WASHINGTON – With an eruption of executive orders, President Joe Biden on Thursday announced that America’s war on COVID-19 is under new command, promising an alarming nation’s progress in reducing infections and the siege it will endure for nearly a year it, to lift.
The ten orders signed by Biden are aimed at launching its national COVID-19 strategy to increase vaccinations and tests, lay the groundwork for the reopening of schools and businesses, and to increase the use of masks immediately. – including a requirement that Americans must travel. One directive calls for addressing the inequalities in health care in minority communities affected by the virus.
“We did not end up in this mess overnight, and it will take months to stop it,” Biden said in the White House. U.S. deaths increased to more than 400,000, and he noted that they could reach 500,000 within a month.
But when he looked directly into the TV camera, Biden declared, “Let me be clear at this point to a nation waiting for action: help is on the way.”
The new president has promised to take much more aggressive measures to curb the virus than his predecessor, which began with strict adherence to public health education. An important difference is that the federal government under Biden assumes full responsibility for the COVID response. And instead of delegating important tasks to states, he offers to help them with technical backing and federal money.
He faces steep obstacles, with the virus actively spreading in most states, vaccine shortages, slow progress with distribution and political uncertainty over whether the Republican Republic will help him get an economic relief of 1.9 billion dollars and COVID response package.
For the challenges carry virus mutations, especially one that has emerged in South Africa, which can make vaccines somewhat less effective. Dr Anthony Fauci told reporters at the White House briefing that “we are paying close attention.” Biden’s plan includes an expansion of research capacity to map the genetic structure of new variants.
A group of Republican officials on Thursday endorsed the president’s strategy. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said, “We support the new government’s focus on removing roadblocks for vaccinations and reopening schools, both of which are important steps to accelerate a broad economic recovery for all Americans.”
Biden officials said they were hampered during the transition by the lack of cooperation from the Trump administration. They say they do not have a full understanding of their predecessors’ actions regarding the distribution of vaccines. And they have a grievance of complaints from countries that say they are not getting enough vaccine even because they are being asked to vaccinate more categories of people.
Biden’s mask order for travel applies to airports and aircraft, ships, buses, trains and public transport. Travelers from abroad must pass a negative COVID-19 test before leaving for the US and must be quarantined on arrival. Biden has already ordered masks on federal property.
Although airlines, Amtrak and other carriers now need masks, Biden’s order makes it a federal mandate, giving passengers the temptation to argue about their rights. The action was applauded by airline unions and supported by a large commercial trade group.
This indicates a sharp break with the culture of President Donald Trump’s government, under which masks were optional, and Trump aimed to be maskless and to offer large gatherings of like-minded supporters. Science has shown that masks, worn properly, reduce the transmission of coronavirus.
Biden said the coronavirus decisions of his administration would be based on science, not politics.
Biden seeks to expand the testing and availability of vaccines, aiming to take 100 million shots in its first hundred days in office. But some independent experts believe that his government should strive for two or three times as much. Even with the slow pace of vaccinations, the US already includes 1 million shots a day.
“It’s a disappointing low bar,” said Dr. Leana Wen, an expert in public health and emergency medicine, said.
When asked about it in the White House on Thursday, Biden told a reporter: ‘When I announced it, everyone said it was not possible. Come on, give me a break, man. ‘
Fauci told reporters the U.S. could return to some normalcy by the fall if the vaccination campaign goes well. To achieve widespread or ‘herd’ immunity, up to 280 million people need to be vaccinated.
Biden has instructed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to begin setting up vaccination centers, with the goal of getting 100 up and running within a month. He ordered the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention to begin a program to make vaccines available through local pharmacies starting next month, building on a plan drawn up by the Trump administration. And he’s making an effort to train more people to give shots.
Biden has set itself the goal of reopening most K-8 schools in its first hundred days, and he urges the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services to provide clear guidance on how to reopen them safely. States would also be able to tap FEMA’s disaster relief fund to get schools reopened.
Getting schools and childcare up and running will help reduce the US economy, making it easier for parents to return to work and for restaurants to find lunch.
But administrative officials stressed that the reopening of schools safely depends on heightened tests.
Biden gives government agencies a green light to use the Cold War Defense Production Act. This allows the government to order the private industry to produce necessities needed in times of national emergencies. In this case, it can be from blemishes, to masks, to certain chemicals.
“We do not have nearly enough testing capacity in this country,” said Jeff Zients, coronavirus coordinator at the White House.
The Biden plan estimates that a national vaccination strategy with extensive testing will require $ 160 billion, and it wants an additional $ 170 billion to help reopen schools and universities.
As part of its strategy, Biden ordered the establishment of a health equality task force to ensure that minority and underserved communities are not left out of government response. Blacks, Latinos, and Native Americans have a heavy burden of death and disease due to the virus. Surveys have shown that the hesitation against vaccines among African Americans is higher, a problem the government plans to address through an education campaign.
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Associated Press authors Collin Binkley and Josh Boak contributed to this report.