President-elect Joe Biden on Friday (local time) said that the coronavirus vaccine rollout in the US till now has been a "dismal failure".
Speaking a day after announcing USD 1.9 trillion relief package, Biden said that the vaccination plan emphasizes a bolstered federal response, rather than leaving key details to the states.
"Vice President-elect Harris and I just received a briefing from our COVID team. Truthfully, we remain in a very dark winter. Infection rates are up 34 per cent. More people are being hospitalized because of COVID than ever before. We're up to 3,000-4,000 deaths per day as we approach the grim milestone of 400,000 deaths in America. That's staggering," he said.
While expressing gratitude to the scientists, researchers and people who participated in clinical trials, Biden said, "The vaccine rollout in the United States has been a dismal failure."
Speaking on his plans about vaccination, he said, "First, we will immediately work with states to open up vaccinations to more priority groups...Second, if we're getting more people vaccinated, then we need more vaccination sites...Third, we are going to fully activate pharmacies across the country to get the vaccines into more arms as quickly as possible...Fourth, we will use the full strength of the federal government to ramp up supply of the vaccines...And fifth, we will always be honest and transparent about where we stand -- both the good news and the bad."
Biden has vowed to get 100 million people inoculated in the administration's first 100 days, and on Friday said he was "convinced" it could be done, CNN reported.
While emphasising on equity being the "central to our COVID response", the President-elect said that he plans to public education campaign to rebuild the trust in science, specifically focusing on Black and Latino communities to fight against hesitancy towards coronavirus vaccine.
( With inputs from ANI )
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