By Caribbean News Global
WASHINGTON USA – President-elect Joe Biden has outlined his plan to administer COVID-19 vaccines to a wide section of the population, increase supplies and launch a public education campaign across the country.
“Our plan is as clear as it is bold: Get more people vaccinated for free. Create more places for them to get vaccinated. Mobilize more medical teams to get the shots in people’s arms. Increase supply and get it out the door as soon as possible,” Biden continued. “We’ll fix the problem by encouraging states to allow more people to get vaccinated beyond health care workers and move through those groups as quickly as they think we can.”
“This is a time to set big goals to pursue them with courage and conviction, because the health of the nation is literally at stake,” Biden said. “The plan will release the vast majority of the vaccines when they are available, so more people can get vaccinated quickly, while still retaining a small reserve for any unforeseen shortages or delays.”
President-elect has received both doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Vice president-elect Kamala Harris has received the first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
Meanwhile, Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a statement on the announcement from the incoming Biden-Harris administration outlining their vaccine plan:
“The Biden-Harris administration’s plan takes a giant leap forward to take our nation from vaccine to vaccination, so that we can crush the coronavirus – and do so in an equitable, effective way. With this plan, president-elect Biden is sending a powerful message to the American people: Help is on the Way.
“The Biden-Harris vaccine plan is a 180-degree reversal from the disastrous vaccine distribution failure of the Trump administration. Instead of the Trump administration’s abandoning of state and local governments, the Biden plan works hand-in-hand with our partners to immediately stop the accelerating spread of the virus, including by:
- Getting more people vaccinated: encouraging states to allow more people to be vaccinated including individuals 65 and older as well as frontline workers and ensuring equity throughout the vaccination process to reach those in hard-to-reach, marginalized communities.
- Creating more vaccination sites: creating new federally-supported community vaccination centers, fully reimbursing state deployment of the National Guard to support vaccination, launching mobile vaccination clinics and partnerships to reach underserved and high-risk communities, and making vaccines available in pharmacies.
- Increasing supply and distribution: ensuring a robust vaccine supply and spur manufacturing, providing actionable data on vaccine allocation timelines and delivery, and increasing vaccine availability while maintaining a commitment to the two-dose schedule.
- Mobilizing more personnel to get shots in arms: surging the public health workforce to support the vaccination effort and mobilizing public health jobs program to support COVID-19 response, all in a culturally competent way.
- Ensuring that the American people have the information and confidence to get vaccinated: launching a federally led and locally focused public education campaign.
“The Democratic House stands ready to work with the Biden-Harris Administration to immediately launch this plan. As the vaccine is being made widely available, we must work to crush the virus with the testing, tracing, treatment, mask-wearing and social distancing that are essential to preventing tens of thousands of needless deaths in the coming months,” Speaker Pelosi said, in the statement.