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The statistics for Covid-19 in our country have been truly devastating. We have passed 24 million cases and are getting closer to nearly 500,000 American lives lost to the pandemic. Even here in New York City, after the overwhelming illness and death we suffered in the spring, hospitals are once again close to capacity, staff are being redeployed to care for Covid patients, and military volunteers are dispatched to provide support. It feels like we started 2021 by taking a huge step backwards in this pandemic.
But a new administration took office on Wednesday, and that’s cause for hope. The Biden administration is already demonstrating a renewed commitment to science-based public health strategies. Last week, Biden announced a new team of science advisers and created a Cabinet position for the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
The new director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr Rochelle Walensky, has publicly committed to leading with science and restoring public confidence in the agency. This marks a significant change from the Trump era, when the White House repeatedly interfered with CDC guidance and data, heavily modifying official health recommendations, blocking the release of guidelines for reopening restaurants and d ‘other public places and minimizing the risk of reopening schools.
After healthcare workers spent the past year fighting simultaneous battles against Covid-19 and disinformation about the virus – which often came from Trump and other elected officials – the Biden administration’s support for messages from science-based public health seems to be a huge burden lifted from our shoulders.
It is true that the deployment of the vaccine was strewn with pitfalls. Federal officials predicted that 20 million Americans would be vaccinated by the end of 2020, but actual numbers reported by the CDC fell far short of that target with just 2.8 million people receiving a vaccine by the end of 2020. new Year. As vaccinations have ramped up, with the United States averaging about 1 million doses per day last week, it would still take until spring 2022 to vaccinate every adult in the United States at this rate, according to an analysis by CNN. And by Friday, nearly 40 million doses of the vaccine had been distributed, but only about 48 percent, or 19 million doses, had been administered.
Along with delays in the administration of the vaccine, there are fears that the supply is running out. Last week, after the Trump administration promised to release a stockpile of vaccines earmarked for second doses, it became clear that such a stockpile did not exist.
Despite these setbacks, the Biden administration has promised a substantial increase in federal support to administer 100 million shots in 100 days, and I hope that will happen. The administration plans to use the Defense Production Law to further scale up the production of materials needed for vaccine delivery.
For states grappling with vaccine deployment, there is also the promise of increased support. The president announced plans to deploy the National Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help set up vaccination sites across the country. He pledged to ensure that these federal resources are directed to the black, Latin American and rural communities that have been hit hardest by the pandemic, and he called for the establishment of immunization centers. mass and mobile units to serve the most difficult to reach areas.
Finally, I am optimistic that the new administration will also restore the global partnerships and goodwill that are so critical during this global health crisis. Trump’s decision to abandon the World Health Organization and his threats to withdraw funding would have had a negative impact on the global fight against diseases like polio, tuberculosis, HIV, malaria and measles, and placed Americans at a higher risk of the global pandemic persistence. . Biden has pledged to join the WHO and deal with this pandemic as part of the global community.
Most of these are still plans and promises that the new administration has yet to execute. But I have high hopes. I hope we will stand together against this pandemic, and I hope we now have a federal government that will stand by our side.
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