Earlier on Thursday, the new director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, said the outgoing Trump administration’s claim that the COVID-19 vaccine would be in every pharmacy by the end of February was wrong.
On his first full day in office, US President Joe Biden signed several executive orders and laid out his administration’s plan for addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, including an effort to vaccinate 100 million Americans in the following 100 days.
He noted that case and death numbers are going to continue to rise until the new efforts begin to have an effect, estimating that the US’ COVID-19 death toll will pass 500,000 in the next month.
‘Help is On the Way’
However, Biden had a message: “help is on the way,” holding up a 198-page guide to his administration’s COVID-19 response plan.
Among the executive actions Biden signed were the reimbursement of states for using their national guard to help with COVID-19 relief efforts; a “full scale wartime effort” using the Defense Production Act to increase the volume of essential medical items being manufactured; and an order giving schools funding for the resources they need in order to safely reopen.
Another goal of his first 100 days is a 100-day “mask up” challenge. Noting that medical experts have predicted Americans wearing masks could save 50,000 lives by April, Biden said he had ordered a mask mandate on federal property and that another order would soon follow for inter-state transit on buses, trains and aircraft.
“It’s a patriotic act,” Biden said about mask-wearing. ‘They’re the single best thing we can do … more important than the vaccines.”
New Federal Initiatives
Biden said he is directing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to start standing up the first federally-supported community vaccination centers, with the goal of standing up 100 such centers in the next month.
Biden announced the creation of a federal COVID-19 liaison for each US state and the launching of a federal COVID-19 testing board, to ensure that plentiful testing for the infectious respiratory disease is made available where it’s needed.
Biden said that in the interest of restoring public trust, he would ensure that scientific and medical experts would “speak directly to you,” free from political interference and making decisions “based on science and health alone.”
Reversing Trump Policies
In his first two days in office, Biden has use the power of his executive office to reverse dozens of policies implemented by former US President Donald Trump, including ending the Keystone XL oil pipeline, adding anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people, and rejoining the World Health Organization. His COVID-19 program is also a repudiation of Trump’s legacy, including his longstanding hostility to mask mandates and the way his administration handled relations with state governments during the first 10 months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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