The United States has confirmed that there are more than 25 million cases of coronavirus – the largest in the world – as President Joe Biden’s chief of staff accused the Donald Trump administration of not giving states a plan to provide much – needed vaccines.
The U.S. makes up more than a quarter of all global cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The country hopes vaccines will help reduce the disease, but there are reports of sweeteners at the state level in vaccine circulation, and shortages in some parts of the country.
In an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Ron Klain said state-level circulation plans for COVID-19 vaccines were “not really in place” under the previous Trump administration, despite the rise in pandemic released during the last months of his career.
“The process of rolling out the vaccine, particularly outside nursing homes and hospitals, to the wider community, was not really there when we entered the White House,” he said. chief of staff Biden.
While the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed has helped develop and manufacture vaccines, vaccine distribution has slowed and the U.S. missed its target of 20 million people by the end of 2020.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that only about half of the 41.4 million vaccines distributed to U.S. states have been administered to date.
Under Trump, the federal government distributed vaccines to population-based states, with another distribution largely left to state governments.
U.S. chief infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci, who worked on a coronavirus action group under Trump, said on Friday that the previous administration had left too much of a burden on the states.
That was picked up by Klain Sunday. “We have seen this factor across the country where millions of doses have been dispensed, but only about half of them have been dispensed,” he said.
“So the process of getting that vaccine into arms – that’s the hard process. That’s where we end up as a country, ”he said.“ That’s where we focus in Biden’s administration – on building that up. “
Meanwhile, in an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the Trump administration’s coronavirus action group, said there were members of the former president’s White House who “certainly believed this was a lump”.
Dr. Dan Ponticiello prepares to introduce coronavirus patient to ICU COVID-19 at Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, California [Lucy Nicholson/Reuters]Biden promises action
Biden, who has pledged a strong fight against the pandemic, has set a target of delivering 100 million vaccines within the first 100 days of his career – a figure that some have criticized as not ambitious enough.
He also signed a series of regulatory orders last week, including some aimed at vaccine distribution, and said his administration would work with state and local governments to provide additional vaccine sites. establishment.
The new administration also plans to deploy thousands of clinical staff from federal agencies, armed medical staff and pharmacy chains to boost vaccinations, and make teachers and grocery clerks eligible.
Brian Deese, director of the National Economic Council, said on Sunday that he would pressure U.S. seniors to pass the $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus aid bill proposed by Biden.
“We can’t wait,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. “Just because Washington has been locked in before, that doesn’t mean it has to keep going.
But state and local leaders are still frustrated by the speed of vaccine circulation, especially with the proliferation of COVID-19 hospitals.
More than 40 percent of Americans now live in areas that are running out of intensive care units, with only 15 percent of beds still available, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Donald Caster, 88, is receiving the COVID-19 vaccine at a Mission Commons-supported live community in Redlands, California, on January 15 [Lucy Nicholson/Reuters]
On Friday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio warned that the nation’s largest city is “burning through” the supply of vaccines. “We need more doses immediately,” de Blasio said.
The governor of the state, Andrew Cuomo, has said that only 67 percent of New York health care workers have received the vaccine. Without an increase in productivity, the health care system could face increased stress, Cuomo said.
In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy said a federal in-state program to help nursing home residents has dispensed with just 10 percent of its vaccines.
‘Why don’t you make it easy?’
Arranging vaccine circulation to emergency and smaller clinics has also been a major problem.
In California, only a handful of independents have been able to get vaccines for their customers – usually only in rural areas where large chain stores are not present, said Sonya Frausto, a pharmacist in the state capital Sacramento, according to Reuters news agency.
Jerry Shapiro, a 78-year-old who owns an independent pharmacy in downtown Los Angeles, told Reuters that he had spent hours over the past month trying to contact health agencies to get vaccinated, useless. He was able to place an order last Saturday.
Shapiro said his customers have also been calling every day for vaccinations, but he has to tell them he has no supply.
“Why don’t you make it easy?” asked Shapiro, who is also worried about his wife because of medical conditions that would make her particularly vulnerable to the virus.
“Have it in your community. Make an appointment, get your picture and it will be done. “