Spc. Katherine Deskins (L) of the Nevada Army National Guard administers a Modern COVID-19 vaccination to Clark County Fire Department Chief Jasmine Ghazinour on the first day of Clark County’s pilot vaccination program at Cashman Center on January 14, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. .
Ethan Miller | Getty Images
Elected President Joe Biden plans to use FEMA and the National Guard to build coronavirus vaccine clinics across the United States, according to new details of his vaccination plan for Covid-19 announced by his transition team on Friday.
The Biden government will also take a quick step to make the vaccines available at local pharmacies across the U.S., which according to the plan should ensure Americans have access to doses at facilities just miles from their home.
“Here’s the thing: the more people vaccinate us, the faster we do it, the sooner we can save lives and put this pandemic behind us and return to our lives and loved ones,” Biden said during a speech in Wilmington, Delaware. , Thursday night. “We will not get out of it overnight and we cannot do it as a separate nation.”
Medicine shops and pharmacies had to play a bigger role in the distribution of the vaccine once the government expanded access to more people. But the slower-than-expected implementation has frustrated pharmacy chains. The National Association of Chain Drug Stores earlier this week called on the federal government to allow states to send more doses directly to pharmacies, such as hospitals and health departments.
The group estimates that the country’s retail pharmacies can administer at least 100 million doses of vaccine each month, which will exceed the incoming administration’s promise of 100 million shots within 100 days.
The Biden government said the current vaccination efforts were not enough to vaccinate the vast majority of the U.S. population quickly and fairly, adding: “We need to ensure that those on the ground have what they need to get vaccinated. to get the arms of people. ‘
The rate of vaccinations in the US is going much slower than officials had hoped. As of Friday at 6 p.m. ET, more than 31.1 million doses of vaccine have been distributed across the U.S., but just over 12.2 million shots have been administered, according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.
Meanwhile, cases are increasing rapidly, with the U.S. recording at least 238,800 new Covid-19 cases and at least 3,310 virus-related deaths each day, based on an average of seven days calculated by CNBC using Johns Hopkins University data.
“We are staying in a very dark winter,” Biden said during a speech Friday. “Almost a year later, we are still far from normal. The honest truth is: things will get worse before they get better,” he said. He calls the deployment of vaccines in the US a ‘failure’.
According to the plan, Biden will also appeal to the Defense Production Act to maximize the production of vaccine and vaccine supplies for the country.
The incoming president’s advisers had earlier indicated he would appeal to wartime production legislation, which would allow the president to force companies to prioritize manufacturing for national security, to boost vaccine production.
The plan states that the law will increase the necessary equipment that could otherwise cause bottlenecks in the explosion of the vaccine if it has a shortage, including glass vials, syringes, plugs and needles. It also increases the ability to package the vaccines in vials.
Biden’s plan will also encourage states to be eligible outside health care workers and residents and staff for long-term care facilities, and will include essential workers such as teachers, first responders, grocery store employees and anyone 65 years and older.
The CDC on Tuesday issued new guidelines in which coronavirus vaccination is suitable for anyone 65 years and older, as well as those with conditions such as diabetes. About 53 million Americans aged 65 and over and 110 million people between the ages of 16 and 64 with illnesses are now eligible to receive the vaccine if each state accepts the guidelines, according to the CDC.
“This will not mean that everyone in these groups will be vaccinated immediately, because the offer is not where it should be,” the transition team wrote. “But that will mean that as vaccines become available, they will reach more people who need them.”
This is an evolving story. Please come and check for updates.