Elected President Joe Biden on Thursday unveiled a comprehensive plan to combat the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, and increase testing on a large scale to support the reopening of schools, create more jobs in health care and raise billions in ‘ to invest in a nationwide Covid-19 vaccine campaign.
The plan, which Biden is expected to discuss in detail Thursday night from its transitional headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, will invest $ 20 billion in a national vaccination program in partnership with states, localities, tribes and territories. The rate of vaccinations is going much slower than U.S. officials had hoped, and states blame the federal government’s lack of funding and inconsistent communication for the slow implementation.
“Current vaccination efforts are not enough to vaccinate the vast majority of the U.S. population quickly and fairly,” Biden’s government wrote in a 19-page document explaining the plan. “We need to ensure that those on the ground have what they need to get vaccinations in people’s arms.”
Here’s a quick look at what Biden’s proposal would also do:
- Invest $ 50 billion to extend the test
- Fund 100,000 new jobs for public health worker
- Identify and address the emerging strains of Covid and invest in new treatments
- Protect vulnerable groups, health workers and strengthen the supply of gloves, masks and other supplies
- Re-join international efforts to stop Covid
- Provides $ 170 billion to reopen schools and universities
Biden would also increase the tests to safely support reopening schools and protect endangered populations, such as the elderly and people with pre-existing conditions. According to his administration, the test is a “critical” strategy to control the spread of the virus, but tests are not yet widely available, and the US still does not use those it has.
The president’s chosen plan invests $ 50 billion in testing, provides funds for rapid testing, invests in expanding laboratory capacity and helps states implement regular testing protocols.
The plan especially includes investing in new treatments for Covid-19. Earlier in the day, a member of Biden’s advisory board Covid-19, dr. Celine Gounder, said health officials have focused too much on treatments such as monoclonal antibodies and the antiviral drug inhibitor of Gilead Sciences. Monoclonal antibodies in particular have had a lukewarm response from health care providers, which, according to U.S. officials, often sit unused.
“We need to think of other therapies,” Gounder told the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in a webcast, saying “monoclonal antibodies may not be the answer here.”
The plan also calls for the establishment of a fund to support 100,000 new jobs in health care, as well as the use of the National Guard to promote the country’s stock bottles, as well as gloves and masks for health workers who are already at the forefront .
The Biden government plans to invest $ 30 billion in the disaster relief fund to ensure adequate protective equipment. It will also provide 100% federal compensation for critical emergency supplies to states, local governments and tribes, including the deployment of the National Guard, according to a plan outline. Biden plans to request an additional $ 10 billion for the production of pandemic supplies.
Biden would “restore American leadership worldwide” and support the international health and humanitarian response. It is unclear whether this means the US will rejoin the World Health Organization after President Donald Trump withdrew the country from the international agency last year. However, Biden has said in the past that he intends to return the US to the WHO.
The new president’s plan comes as the coronavirus continues to spread rapidly across the US and mortality rates rise sharply. The country now records at least 245,300 new Covid-19 cases and at least 3,360 virus-related deaths each day, based on a seven-day average calculated by CNBC using Johns Hopkins University data. The U.S. reported a record 4,327 deaths from coronavirus on Tuesday, the second time in just a week that the country’s daily death toll exceeds 4,000.
Trump’s response to the pandemic has been criticized, including handling the distribution of Pfizers and Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccines.
As of Thursday at 9 a.m. ET, more than 30.6 million doses of vaccine had been distributed across the U.S., but just over 11.1 million shots were administered, according to information compiled by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. The number is far from the federal government’s goal of vaccinating 20 million Americans by the end of 2020, and 50 million Americans by the end of this month.
The Trump administration on Tuesday approved Biden’s plan to release most of the doses he withheld for the second round of shots from Pfizer and Moderna’s two-dose vaccines.
In an effort to accelerate the rate of vaccinations, the Trump administration has also changed the way it administers vaccines to states, and the CDC has taken the vaccine into account for everyone 65 and older, as well as those with medical conditions, such as diabetes and heart. disease.