Associated Press: ‘Overwhelm the problem’: Inside Biden’s war on COVID-19
COVID-19 Response Team Tackling Logistical Challenges, Botched Efforts by Trump Administration
The Biden Administration Is Using “Every Resource And Tool” At Its Disposal To Fight The Pandemic After Inheriting A Vaccine Disaster And Facing The Threat Of New Variants.
- “‘We’re at war with this virus,’ COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients said in an interview with The Associated Press between Sunday morning meetings on the response. ‘We’re taking every resource and tool the federal government has to battle on every front.’ It’s a strategy facing urgent tests after Biden inherited an inconsistent vaccine distribution plan and with the emerging threats from new virus variants.” [AP, 2/11/21]
The Biden Team Is Working To “Overwhelm The Problem” After The Trump Administration Largely Spent The Pandemic On The Defensive.
- “The goal, Biden aides say, is as simple as it is ambitious: After a year of being on defense they want to take the fight to the virus — to ‘overwhelm the problem,’ a kind of mantra for the team. The campaign is being waged in schools and sterile pharmaceutical plants, on the vast blacktop of stadium parking lots and along the sidewalks outside Americans’ homes. To defeat the virus, Biden’s team must oversee a herculean logistical effort to put shots into hundreds of millions of arms, but also overcome vaccine hesitance, politically charged science skepticism and fatigue across all corners of society after nearly a year of hardship.” [AP, 2/11/21]
Biden Has Invested Billions In Boosting Vaccination And Testing, Developed A Model To Deploy Troops To Get Shots In Arms, And Is Opening Mass Vaccination Sites In California, Texas And New York.
- “Since he took office three weeks ago, Biden’s team has attacked the problem on multiple fronts. They have unleashed billions of federal dollars to boost vaccinations and testing and developed a model to deploy more than 10,000 active-duty troops to join even more members of the National Guard to put shots into arms. Mass vaccination sites, supported by federal troops, are set to open in California, Texas and New York in coming weeks.” [AP, 2/11/21]
Biden Is Focusing On Low-Income, Rural, And Minority Communities Including By Distributing Doses To Community Health Centers And Pharmacies That Support Underserved Communities.
- “Biden’s team has taken an increased role in determining where each vial of vaccine goes, with an eye on ensuring that lower-income, rural and minority communities are covered, an implicit criticism of how some states have handled their rollouts. New distributions to community health centers, announced Tuesday, and a 1 million weekly dose pharmacy program being rolled out this week will allow the White House to directly steer vaccines to underserved communities.” [AP, 2/11/21]
Biden Is Letting Scientists And CDC Officials Do Their Jobs.
- “In one key instance, the more hands-on federal response has meant the Biden White House has taken a step back. Where the Trump White House got involved in editing CDC guidance for businesses, travel and schools — prompting complaints about meddling with science and leading some states to adopt their own more stringent protocols — the Biden administration is leaving it to career scientists to craft policies.” [AP, 2/11/21]
Biden Is Working With Governors To Ensure More Reliable Deliveries Of Vaccine.
- “One early success of the Biden plan was born out of conversations with governors frustrated about constantly fluctuating vaccine supplies. The lack of certainty led some states to slow the administration of first doses to ensure enough second shots would be available if deliveries dropped. Biden’s team pledged to give states three weeks notice on what’s coming their way. ‘We now see more vaccine on the horizon than we did a few weeks ago,’ Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, told the AP. ‘The more we learn about more vaccine the happier I am.’” [AP, 2/11/21]
61 Percent Of Americans, Including A Third Of Republicans, Approve Of President Biden’s Handling Of The Pandemic So Far.
- “Two weeks into Biden’s administration, a Quinnipiac poll showed 61% of Americans approving of the way the president is handling the coronavirus pandemic. Nearly all Democrats and 33% of Republicans said they approve. In a December Quinnipiac poll, 39% of Americans approved of the way President Donald Trump was handling the coronavirus pandemic. Seventy-eight percent of Republicans, but just 3% of Democrats, approved.” [AP, 2/11/21]