Biden Deploys FEMA, National Guard To Set Up Covid Vaccination Clinics Across United States

President-elect Joe Biden plans to use FEMA and the National Guard to build coronavirus vaccination clinics across the United States, according to new details of his Covid-19 vaccination plan released by his transition team on Friday .

The Biden administration will also “quickly revive” efforts to make vaccines available at local pharmacies across the United States, which should ensure that Americans have access to doses in facilities located only miles from their homes. , according to the plan.

“Here’s the deal: the more people we vaccinate, the faster we do it, the faster we can save lives and put this pandemic behind us and get back to our lives and loved ones,” Biden said during a speech. in Wilmington, Delaware, Thursday evening. “We are not going to get out of it overnight and we cannot do it as a separate nation.”

Drugstore chains and drugstores were supposed to play a larger role in distributing the vaccine once the government expanded access to more people. But the slower-than-expected rollout has frustrated drugstore chains. The National Association of Chain Drug Stores called on the federal government earlier this week to allow states to send more doses directly to pharmacies as they do with hospitals and health departments.

The group estimated that retail pharmacies nationwide could administer at least 100 million doses of vaccine each month, exceeding the promise of inbound administration of 100 million vaccines in 100 days.

The Biden administration said current immunization efforts are not enough to quickly and fairly immunize the vast majority of the U.S. population, adding, “We need to make sure those on the ground have what they need to get vaccinated. people in the arms. “

The pace of vaccinations in the United States is much slower than officials had hoped. As of 6 a.m. ET as of Friday, more than 31.1 million doses of vaccine had been distributed in the United States, but just over 12.2 million vaccines had been administered, according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Meanwhile, cases are increasing rapidly, with the United States registering at least 238,800 new cases of Covid-19 and at least 3,310 virus-related deaths each day, based on a seven-day average calculated by CNBC at the using data from Johns Hopkins University.

“We are left in a very dark winter,” Biden said in a speech Friday. “Almost a year later, we are still a long way from being back to normal. The truth is, things will get worse before they get better,” he said. He called the vaccine rollout in the United States a “failure.”

According to the plan, Biden will also invoke the Defense Production Act to “maximize vaccine manufacturing and vaccine supplies for the country.”

Advisors to the new president had previously hinted that he would invoke the Wartime Production Act, which allows the president to force companies to prioritize manufacturing for national security, in order to boost production of vaccines.

The plan says the law will increase the supply of necessary equipment that could otherwise cause bottlenecks in vaccine deployment in the event of a shortage, including glass vials, syringes, caps and needles. It will also increase the ability to package vaccines in vials.

Biden’s plan will also encourage states to open up eligibility beyond healthcare workers and residents and staff of long-term care facilities, and will include essential front-line workers such as teachers, primary caregivers, stakeholders, grocery store employees and anyone aged 65 and over.

The CDC on Tuesday released new guidelines that expanded eligibility for the coronavirus vaccine to all people 65 years of age and older as well as those with comorbidities, such as diabetes. Some 53 million Americans aged 65 and older and 110 million people aged 16 to 64 with comorbidities are now eligible to receive the vaccine if each state adopts the guidelines, according to the CDC.

“This does not mean that all members of these groups will be immunized immediately, as the supply is not where it needs to be,” the transition team wrote. “But that will mean that as the vaccines become available, they will reach more people who need them.”

This is a developing story. Please come back for updates.