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Officials in the new Biden administration have prepared the country for persistent hardships in the days following the inauguration, with the president-elect taking control of a struggling economy and a coronavirus outbreak in less than three days.
Ron Klain, new chief of staff to President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., had poor forecasts for the course of the coronavirus epidemic in the first weeks of the new administration, predicting that half a million Americans would have died of the coronavirus at the end of February. The current balance is around 400,000.
“The virus will get worse before it gets better,” Klain said during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union”. “People who contract the virus today will start to get sick next month, which will increase the death toll at the end of February, even in March, so it will take some time to reverse the trend.”
Average daily deaths in the United States from the virus have passed far beyond 3000, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have sounded the alarm over a rapidly spreading and much more contagious variant of the coronavirus which officials predict will become the main source of infection in the country by March, this that could fuel a new wave of heartbreaking cases. and the dead.
Mr Klain, in comments directed at states’ disappointment that a supply of additional vaccines the Trump administration had promised to release did not exist, said his team was “inheriting a huge mess” in terms of vaccine production and distribution.
“But we have a plan to fix it,” Klain said, referring to a federal vaccination campaign announced by Mr. Biden on Friday. “We think there are things we can do to speed up the administration of this vaccine.”
Administration officials last week urged states to relax eligibility criteria and start vaccinating all Americans 65 and older. Some states, including New York City, quickly came into compliance, which sparked renewed interest – and confusion – as thousands of newly eligible people sought to get vaccinated.
But there was no stockpile of additional vaccine doses awaiting distribution in those states, it turned out – only the amounts already promised, with much to be given as a second dose to people who had already received. their first doses.
Dr Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on Sunday that he, too, had tried to sort out the confusion over the number of doses held by the federal government and their destination.
“I think there was just a misunderstanding,” Dr. Fauci said on NBC’s “Meet the Press”. “When the doses were released, an equal amount was kept to ensure that if there was a problem in the flow of supply, the people who received their first doses would clearly receive their second doses,” he said. declared.
Once it was clear that vaccine production would be reliable, he added, “the decision was made, instead of giving just enough for the first dose and withholding for the second dose, that as soon as they got the available doses they would give it away because now they would be confident in the next amount they would receive. “
Brian Deese, the new chairman of the National Economic Council, also stressed the urgency of adopting a $ 1.9 trillion stimulus package that the new Biden administration unveiled last week to help with the recovery effort, indicating data suggesting an increase in unemployment and the fact that more Americans are going hungry.
“The truth is we are at a very precarious time,” Deese said during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday”. “We have an acute economic crisis and a human crisis, and we need decisive action.”
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