President-elect Joe Biden announced on Tuesday a three-point plan to combat the coronavirus pandemic within the first 100 days of his presidency,
What We Know:
- After introducing the team he has designed to tackle the pandemic, Biden stated that he would aim to get at least 100 million Americans vaccinated in his initial 100 days in office, pledge to sign a face mask mandate on his first day in office, and focus on efforts to get kids back to school safely.
- Following the advice of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Biden decided his administration would prioritize vaccinating health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities. The President-elect also said he would vaccinate educators as soon as possible.
- Although the President can’t require every American to wear a mask, under the law, Biden said he could mandate mask-wearing in places like federal buildings and when traveling on planes, trains, and buses. In regard to getting kids back in school, he said if Congress provides the necessary funding to protect students, educators, and staff, and states take strong public health measures that people follow, he is confident a majority of schools could open by the end of the 100 days.
- Biden said he worked with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease doctor, when drafting the objective for his presidential plan. This comes after the President-elect announced Fauci as his chief medical adviser on the pandemic.
- “My first 100 days won’t end the Covid-19 virus, I can’t promise that,” Biden declared during the event in Delaware. “But we did not get in this mess quickly, we’re not going to get out of it quickly, it’s going to take some time. But I’m absolutely convinced that in 100 days we can change the course of the disease and change life in America for the better.”
The President-elect also called on the unsatisfactory job being done by the Trump administration. He urges the President “to purchase the doses it has negotiated with Pfizer and Moderna and to work swiftly to scale manufacturing to US populations and the world.”
