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President Biden claimed credit for the U.S. COVID-19 vaccination program on Thursday – despite the fact that coronavirus vaccines were developed and initially deployed by the Trump administration.
In a remark that is sure to raise eyebrows, Biden said that “when I started the immunization program and we got all this vaccine, enough for everyone, we were vaccinating 3 million people a day, we we were getting a lot closer before things started to slow down. . “
Biden has been criticized – including by fact-checkers – for inflating his own role in the vaccine rollout while downplaying the work of former President Donald Trump.
After taking office, Biden said in February: “Just over four weeks ago America had no real plan to vaccinate most of the country,” despite the Trump administration’s publication of ‘a plan in September that his administration largely followed.
In the same February remarks, Biden said: “My predecessor… did not order enough vaccines, failed to mobilize efforts to administer the vaccines, failed to set up vaccination centers. “
But FactCheck.org called Biden’s claims “misleading” – pointing out that Trump “had contracts in place for many vaccines for all Americans” and that “there was indeed a plan to acquire and distribute vaccines” .
The fact-checking group also noted that “Biden exaggerated when he claimed vaccinations had ‘almost doubled’ on his watch. “
The vaccine rollout campaign in the United States began in December 2020 when Trump was president and Biden’s initial goal of vaccinating 1 million people per day had already been met when he took office on January 20, 2021.
Biden was speaking on Wednesday near Chicago about a new federal rule that will require companies that employ 100 or more employees to require vaccinations or regular testing.
He has previously given some credit to Trump, whose administration has invested billions of dollars in vaccine development and procurement with Operation Warp Speed. While the votes were still being counted in the week following the presidential election, Pfizer was the first company to announce that its vaccine had passed clinical trials.
In December, Biden said: “I think the [Trump] the administration deserves some credit for launching this operation, Operation Warp Speed. ”
Biden on Wednesday compared his vaccine mandates, which also require all federal employees to be immunized, to long-standing requirements for school vaccines against infectious diseases.
He also said he recently called a hospital in Pennsylvania to ask why they couldn’t see a friend of his friend’s partner – saying many COVID-19 patients made them wait to be seen.
“Last night… I was on the phone with a person in an emergency department at a hospital in Pennsylvania because a good friend called and he rushed his loved one to the emergency room because he was having trouble breathing. , had a high fever and couldn’t really catch his breath, ”Biden said.
“And they took her to the hospital, but the waiting room was so crowded. Things were so backed up that they couldn’t even show her at first. So, because I knew this person, I I called in. I called the office, the reception nurse and asked what the situation was.
Biden added, “I wasn’t complaining because they get kicked out of hell, by the way – doctors and nurses. Some of them are right, they are dry.
It was not clear whether the presidential phone call had any effect on the hospital’s operations.
“In short, it took a while because all – not all, the vast majority of emergency rooms and doctors were busy caring for COVID patients,” he said.
More than 78% of U.S. adults have received at least one injection of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to CDC data. The more contagious Delta variant of the virus resulted in reduced vaccine efficacy and inhibited the goal of achieving herd immunity. The virus has killed more than 709,000 Americans.
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