As the Trump Administration continues to obstruct the Biden transition effort from effectively planning to take over the pandemic response, Protect Our Care’s Coronavirus War Room Director Zac Petkanas released the following statement:
“President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are offering a refreshing insight into what real leadership looks like in the middle of a public health and economic crisis.
“As Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell seek to sabotage the incoming Administration by blocking his transition team and holding up an economic relief package, President-elect Biden and his team are forging ahead by letting the science lead, establishing clear evidence-based messaging for public guidance, and bringing together the most knowledgeable experts possible to advise him and heeding their advice.
“Unfortunately, these workarounds can only go so far. Trump and his allies must stop preventing the Biden team from accessing the federal government’s resources, personnel, and lines of communications, and McConnell must immediately move to pass a coronavirus relief package that will pull us out of an economic disaster.”
Biden Has Put Together a Gold-Standard Team of Advisors, Conducts Meetings With Key Experts, and Is Coordinating on Pandemic Preparations With Outside Groups
- Biden Has Put Together A Task Force Of Seasoned Public Health Experts To Prioritize The Coronavirus Pandemic And Scale Up A Federal Response. “President-elect Joe Biden named 13 health experts to his Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board on Monday, advancing his plans despite uncertainty over how much the Trump administration will cooperate amid its ongoing legal challenge to the election results. The coronavirus has spread at alarming rates in the U.S. in recent weeks. The panel will be co-chaired by three people: former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. David Kessler of the University of California, San Francisco; former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy; and Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, an associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at Yale.” [NPR, 11/9/20]
- The Biden Transition Team Has Appointed Two Health Advisors To Guide The Incoming Administration’s Pandemic Preparations. “Separately, the Biden transition announced that it had appointed two health advisers who will guide the incoming administration’s Covid-19 preparations but will not serve on the task force. One of those advisers, Beth Cameron, is the former director of a White House biodefense council that Trump has been criticized for closing in 2017. The other, Rebecca Katz, is a well-known Georgetown global health security professor.” [Stat, 11/9/20]
- Biden Appointed Ron Klain, Who Led President Obama’s Response To The Ebola Crisis, To Serve As White House Chief Of Staff. “President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Ron Klain to be his incoming chief of staff, the Biden transition office said in a news release Wednesday, elevating his longtime aide to one of the most powerful positions in the White House… Klain brings unique expertise to this moment defined by the ongoing coronavirus crisis. The Democratic operative was appointed by then-President Obama to lead the response to the Ebola crisis in 2014. Klain’s experience leading the Obama administration’s response to that public health threat is seen as an asset.” [CNN, 11/11/20]
- Stat: “Biden’s Transition Team Is Concentrating Its Efforts On Mining Outside Experts” To Learn About The Pandemic. “Nearly all of the nation’s leading public health organizations have already heard directly from President-elect Biden’s transition team since the election was called in his favor less than two weeks ago. The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials has met with the Biden team three times, the National Association of County and City Health Officials met with the Biden team once and the Association of Immunization Managers had informal conversations with the team, the groups all confirmed to STAT. The Big Cities Health Coalition, which represents cities like Boston and New York, is scheduled to meet with them later this week. The meetings are an early sign that Biden’s transition team is concentrating its efforts on mining outside experts to learn as much about the federal response to the Covid-19 pandemic while they wait to begin the official transition.” [Stat, 11/18/20]
- The Biden Administration Is Already Coordinating With Drug Makers And Pharmacies. “The Biden team is also coordinating directly with the drug makers and pharmacies at the center of the federal response to the pandemic. Biden’s advisers are slated to meet with vaccine makers, including Pfizer, starting this week, Ron Klain, Biden’s pick for chief of staff, said Sunday. Both Eli Lilly, which recently received emergency authorization for its Covid-19 treatment, and CVS, which has partnered with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to administer vaccines, have also directly coordinated with the incoming Biden administration, they confirmed to STAT.” [Stat, 11/18/20]
- The First Event Biden Held As President-Elect Was A Briefing On The Pandemic With His Coronavirus Advisors, Signaling That It Would Be His Top Priority. “President-elect Joe Biden started the first week of his transition focused on the coronavirus pandemic, as both political parties weigh how to handle potential distribution of a vaccine in light of positive news from Pfizer Inc. and partner BioNTech SE. Mr. Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris received their first briefing Monday on the pandemic from the transition team’s newly announced Covid-19 advisory board, after a study showed the Pfizer vaccine to be more than 90% effective in the first 94 subjects who were infected by the new coronavirus and developed at least one symptom.” [Wall Street Journal, 11/9/20]
- Biden Is Holding Virtual Meetings With Frontline Health Care Workers. “President-elect Joe Biden is now holding a virtual meeting with frontline health care workers in Wilmington, Delaware. Biden emphasized that he wanted to hear directly from those who have seen the reality of the coronavirus pandemic and how it is devastating American communities. The president-elect told the health care workers that they deserved leaders who would work ‘as hard for you as you do for the families in your communities.’” [The Guardian, Accessed 11/18/20]
- As Biden Meets With Public Health Officials, Trump Hasn’t Consulted With His Own Coronavirus Task Force In Months. “As a deadly new wave of COVID-19 infections surges in 46 states, President Donald Trump hasn’t attended a coronavirus task force meeting in months. The President has been largely silent about the renewed strain on hospitals. He hasn’t added his voice to pressure more state governors to require masks and distancing — moves his own public health officials say can save thousands of lives as the country enters a potentially deadly winter before a vaccine will be widely distributed. Vice President Mike Pence led a White House call with state governors on Nov. 17 about the coronavirus response. Trump didn’t attend.” [Time, 11/18/20]
Biden Has Laid Out a Road-Map for How to Get the Pandemic Under Control After Eight Months of Failed Leadership
- Biden’s Plan Calls For Empowering Scientists And Setting Up Evidence-Based Guidance To Stop Outbreaks And Invest In The Distribution Of Vaccines And Supplies. “Specifically, Biden’s plan calls for empowering scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help set national, evidence-based guidance to stop outbreaks as well as making significant investments in vaccine distribution, testing and the creation of a public health workforce to carry out contact tracing and other services.” [NPR, 11/8/20]
- Biden’s Plan Calls On The CDC To Issue Specific, Community-Based Guidance That Considers The Local Degree Of Viral Spread To Make Decisions On How To Open Schools And Businesses. “Under Biden’s plan, the CDC will be directed to provide specific guidance — based on the degree of viral spread in a community — for ‘how to open schools, open businesses,’ [Dr. Ezekiel] Emanuel says, or when to impose restrictions on gathering sizes or when stay-at-home orders may be called for. It would create a national ‘pandemic dashboard’ to share this information with the public. This is a strategy recommended by a top group of public health experts, who released a framework for assessing community risk.” [NPR, 11/8/20]
- The Biden Administration Will Massively Expand Testing Efforts. “The Biden campaign has said the goal is to ‘ensure that all Americans have access to regular, reliable and free testing.’ His administration will work to double the number of drive-through testing sites and invest in “next-generation testing,” including home tests and instant tests. ‘It’s not enough to know in seven days or five days or three days whether or not you have COVID,’ Biden recently said on CBS’ 60 Minutes. If there’s a long lag time, a person may spread the disease unwittingly while waiting for results.” [NPR, 11/8/20]
- Biden Plans To Invest In Public Health Infrastructure By Hiring Thousands Of New Workers. “The Biden team pledges to ‘mobilize’ 100,000 Americans to work with local organizations around the country to perform contact tracing and other health services for populations at high risk for COVID-19. The idea is to empower local communities and health departments to assist people with challenges such as food insecurity and affordable housing.” [NPR, 11/8/20]
- Biden Wants To Make Sure Americans Have Health Insurance Amid The Ongoing Crisis. “Biden’s coronavirus plan proposes to have the federal government cover 100% of the costs of COBRA coverage for the duration of the crisis. ‘So when people lose their employer-based health insurance, they can stay on that insurance, given the moment we are in,’ Stef Feldman, Biden’s national policy director, told NPR. In addition, Biden will push to strengthen the Affordable Care Act, expanding coverage by making more people eligible for premium subsidies. Biden hopes also to push for expansion of Medicaid in states that have yet to do so, and he has proposed making Medicare coverage available to Americans beginning at age 60 (instead of 65).” [NPR, 11/8/20]
- The Biden Administration Will Expand The Caregiving Work Force. “During the pandemic, Biden says many families are struggling to find affordable care for their children, aging relatives or loved ones with disabilities. ‘At the same time, professional caregivers have either lost their jobs or continue to work while putting their lives at risk without sufficient pay,’ his campaign plan noted. Biden plans to work with states to speed up waiting lists for Medicaid-paid care in homes. In addition, the president-elect supports a variety of steps to expand caregiving, including ensuring access to preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds and supporting caregivers through job training and improved benefits and protections.” [NPR, 11/8/20]
- The Biden Administration Will Invest In Vaccine Distribution And Shore Up Supplies Of PPE. “The Biden team proposes investing $25 billion in a vaccine manufacturing and distribution plan ‘that will guarantee it gets to every American, cost-free.’ The president-elect also wants to solve the shortages of personal protective equipment that have plagued the U.S. health care system since the pandemic began. The Biden team says after the inauguration, it will work to make sure more of these critical supplies are produced and distributed ‘rather than leave states, cities, tribes, and territories to fend for themselves.’ Biden says he’d use the Defense Production Act to increase production of masks, face shields and other personal protective equipment so that supply exceeds demand.” [NPR, 11/8/20]