Joe Biden will tell states to give vaccines to essential workers and over 65s IMMEDIATELY to stop 'doses sitting in freezers un-used' calling current system 'rigid and confusing'
President-elect Joe Biden instructed states to give COVID-19 vaccines to all essential workers and Americans over 65 immediately, to stop doses from lingering on shelves.
'The process of establishing priority groups was driven by science, but the problem - the implementation has been too rigid and confusing,' Biden said. That has caused 'tens of millions of doses of vaccines sitting unused in a freezer,' he said.
Biden spoke Friday from Wilmington, Delaware about his vaccination plan after calling the Trump effort 'dismal' in a Thursday night address about Congressional funding he'll need to right the pandemic response. He used the same adjective Friday.
The Trump administration left it up to states and localities to define priority groups, but that has often meant wasted doses when, for instance, medical professionals didn't show up for their vaccination appointments.
'If you were to ask most people today, they couldn’t tell you who exactly should be getting vaccinated,' Biden observed.
Biden also confirmed CNN's reporting last week that he wants to release a majority of vaccine doses in the U.S., under the theory that it's better to get more Americans one shot than fewer people two.
'Let me be clear: we are not changing the FDA’s recommended dosing schedule. We believe it is critical that everyone should get two doses within that FDA recommended timeframe,' he said Friday.
However, the Washington Post reported Friday that when Trump's Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar made the same call - to release the stockpiled doses - no such stockpile existed.
The two approved vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna, are two-shot regimens.
President-elect Joe Biden rolled out his plan to distribute COVID-19 vaccines after calling President Donald Trump's operation 'dismal' Thursday night in Wilmington
David Cheng, director of inpatient pharmacy, places trays of the Pfize vaccine into a freezer at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. Biden said Friday he wants to expand the first priority group to all Americans over 65 and all essential workers to prevent the vaccine supply from going bad
President-elect Joe Biden wants to set up federal centers so there are major places where the shots of the vaccine can be given
President Donald Trump called his administration's push for a fast COVID-19 vaccine Operation Warp Speed. The Biden team plans to dump that branding
The president-elect said he would 'move heaven and earth' to pick up the pace of vaccines being put in Americans' arms. He'll debut a vaccine distribution plan later Friday in Wilmington
Incoming White House press secretary Jen Psaki explained on Twitter Friday that OWS - Operation Warp Speed' - used to describe the U.S. government's rapid push for a COVID-19 vaccine would have a different name under the Biden administration
FIVE STEPS JOE BIDEN WILL TAKE TO GET MORE COVID VACCINES IN ARMS
1. Get more people vaccinated
Encourage states to allow more people to be vaccinated including individuals 65 and older as well as frontline workers. The process of establishing priority groups was driven by science, but the implementation has been too rigid and confusing. We now see doses of vaccines sitting in freezers unused while people who want the vaccine cannot get it. President-elect Biden’s plan encourages states to open up eligibility beyond healthcare workers and long-term care facility residents and staff, to include frontline essential workers like teachers, first responders, grocery store employees, and anyone who is 65 and older. It won’t mean that everyone in these groups will get vaccinated immediately, as supply is not where it needs to be. But it will mean that as vaccines become available, they will reach more people who need them. For states with the capacity and supply to further expand, we encourage that as well. The federal government will continue to look to the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices framework for an equitable, effective vaccination program.
Ensure equity throughout the vaccination process to reach those in hard-to-reach, marginalized communities. We will ensure that there is equity in the vaccination process by using data to target resources to hard-hit communities, ensuring no out-of-pocket costs for vaccinations, and equitable access to vaccines in marginalized and medically-underserved communities. Partnerships with state, local and community-based organizations and trusted health care providers, like community health centers, will be central to this effort.
2. Create more vaccination sites
Stand up new, federally-supported community vaccination centers across the country. Getting as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible will require close coordination between the federal government and all states and territories. Knowing that not all states and jurisdictions have the resources to scale vaccinations at the pace this crisis demands, the Biden-Harris administration will leverage federal resources and emergency contracting authorities to launch new vaccination sites and to expand state and local efforts across the country. With the support of Federal Emergency Management Administration , these sites will mobilize thousands of clinical and non-clinical staff and contractors who will work hand-in-glove with the National Guard and state and local teams. The program will be scaled based on what is working best on the ground for state and local partners, and the communities they serve.
Fully reimburse state deployment of the National Guard to support vaccinations and provide additional FEMA assistance. Many states are planning to use their National Guard to support vaccine distribution efforts, including to support critical transportation and logistics functions. To further support states, President-elect Biden’s plan fully reimburses states for the use of the National Guard and provides 100% cost match for state and local emergency costs through FEMA.
Launch mobile vaccination clinics and provider partnerships to reach underserved urban areas and rural communities. President-elect Biden will deploy mobile vaccination clinics in the most hard-to-reach communities and to support those who face challenges accessing vaccination sites, including individuals who live in underserved urban and rural areas. The federal government will partner with states and local providers, including primary care providers, to ensure that they have the resources needed to help get vaccines to the communities they serve. The federal government will launch targeted programs to engage community health centers, rural health clinics, critical access hospitals, and tribal health services to ensure that we can meet the needs of all communities.
Make vaccines available in pharmacies. Millions of Americans turn to their local pharmacies every day for their medicines, flu shots, and much more. Nearly 90 percent of Americans live within five miles of a pharmacy. President-elect Biden will quickly jumpstart efforts to increase capacity at chain and independent pharmacies across the country to get Americans vaccinated.
Launch a new partnership with Federally Qualified Health Centers nationwide. Federally Qualified Health Centers serve more than 30 million patients each year — one in 11 people nationwide. Many are people of color and many live in rural communities. FQHC patients are often individuals struggling to make ends meet. Given the critical role that these providers play in their communities, President-elect Biden will launch a new program to ensure that FQHCs can directly access vaccine supply where needed. At the same time, the administration will encourage jurisdictions to engage and work closely with health centers in their community vaccination planning. And to ensure that health centers have the resources they need to successfully launch vaccination programs, President-elect Biden has called on Congress to provide additional funds to support community health centers, and HHS will launch a new program to provide guidance, technical assistance, and other resources to prepare and engage these providers nationwide.
Launch new models to serve high-risk individuals. The administration will make programs available for high-risk congregate settings, including homeless shelters, jails, and institutions that serve individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
3. Increase supply and get it out the door as quickly as possible
Ensure a robust vaccine supply and spur manufacturing. To help people get vaccinated more quickly, the president-elect will maximize the manufacture of vaccine and vaccine supplies for the country, including using the Defense Production Act. This effort will prioritize supplies that could cause bottlenecks, including glass vials, stoppers, syringes, needles, and the “fill and finish” capacity to package vaccine into vials.
Be a reliable partner for states by providing actionable data on vaccine allocation timelines and delivery. To effectively plan and scale distribution, states and localities rely on both advanced understanding of their allocations and timely delivery of their ordered doses. Under President-elect Biden’s plan, the federal government will provide regular projections of the allocations states and localities will receive. The federal government will build on the operational plans in place to ensure the effective distribution, storage, and transit of vaccines to states, including support for maintaining or augmenting the vaccine-specific required cold chain. The federal government will also fully leverage the Defense Production Act to fill any distribution gaps, including with respect to any needed refrigeration, transportation, or storage facilities.
Increase vaccine availability while maintaining a commitment to the two-dose schedule. President-elect Biden’s 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. To continue ensuring second-dose availability on the timeline recommended by the FDA, the Biden-Harris administration will closely monitor development, production and release of vaccines, and use the DPA as needed to ensure adequate supply for second doses on the timeline recommended by the FDA.
4. Mobilize more personnel to get shots in arms.
Surge the public health workforce to support the vaccination effort. A diverse, community-based public health workforce is essential to an effective vaccination program. President-elect Biden will address workforce needs by taking steps to allow additional qualified professionals to administer vaccines and strongly encourage states to use their flexibility fully to surge their workforce, including by expanding scope of practice laws and waiving licensing requirements as appropriate. The federal government, in partnership with states, will provide appropriate training, including thorough use of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. The president-elect will also act swiftly to amend the current COVID-19 Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act declaration to permit certain qualified professionals, including retired medical professionals, that are not licensed under state law to administer vaccines to be able to do so with appropriate training in order to expand the number of qualified professionals able to administer the vaccine.
Mobilize a public health jobs program to support COVID-19 response. President-elect Biden has asked Congress to make an historic investment in expanding the public health workforce, funding 100,000 public health workers to nearly triple the country’s community health roles. These individuals will be hired to work in their local communities to perform vital tasks like vaccine outreach and contact tracing in the near term, and to transition into community health roles to build our long-term public health capacity that will help improve quality of care and reduce hospitalization for low-income and underserved communities.
5. Ensure the American people have the information and confidence they need to get vaccinated
Launch a federally led, locally focused public education campaign. The federal government will build public trust through increased transparency, communication around progress and setbacks, and a public education campaign that addresses vaccine hesitancy and is tailored to meet the needs of local communities. The campaign will work to elevate trusted local voices and outline the historic efforts to deliver a safe and effective vaccine as part of a national strategy for beating COVID-19.
'Truthfully we remain in a very dark winter,' Biden told the small crowd of journalists watching him speak at the Queen theater in Wilmington.
He noted that infections were up 34 per cent and the country was seeing 3,000-4,000 deaths a day.
'That's staggering to state the obvious,' Biden said.
He expressed disgust that President Donald Trump had made the pandemic worse by politicizing mask-wearing, one of the easiest ways to stop the spread.
'What a stupid, stupid thing for it to happen,' Biden commented.
Biden also tore into the group of Republican lawmakers who refused to wear masks as the Capitol was being mobbed by angry Trump supporters last week.
'It was shocking to see members of Congress, while the capitol was under siege by a deadly mob of thugs, refusing to wear a mask while they were in a secure location,' Biden said Friday in Wilmington.
He applauded the efforts of his home state congresswoman, Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, who was seen in footage from that day trying to hand out masks to a group that included 'QAnon' Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
'What the hell is the matter with them?' the incoming president asked. 'Time to grow up.'
'The result?' Biden continued. 'At least four members of Congress today, including a cancer survivor, now have COVID-19 who were in those rooms.'
'For God's sake,' Biden added.
He reminded the country that his day-one ask will be 100 days of mask-wearing to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
Beyond allowing a bigger group to be vaccinated at the start, the president-elect said he planned to open up federal sites where needles could go in arms.
'On my first day in office, I will instruct the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, to begin setting up the first of these centers,' Biden said.
Biden pointed to places like stadiums where this could happen.
'We’ll make sure there are vaccination centers in communities hit hardest by the pandemic, in Black and Latino communities, and rural communities as well,' he added.
He also said the administration would work with 'independent and chain pharmacies' where vaccines could also be distributed.
Biden said he'll also increase the number of healthcare professionals, even pulling from the ranks of the retired, so there are people to administer the shots.
Biden said he'll use the Defense Production Action immediately to get vaccines and equipment made.
He said the suppliers have already been identified.
The president-elect said the administration would launch a massive public education campaign to deal with 'vaccine hesitancy.'
'It's a critical piece of the tragic reality,' he noted, pointing to the disparities in the death rates between white Americans and Americans of color.
Biden said his fifth and final step was to be 'honest and transparent about where we stand.'
'Both the good news and the bad,' he said.
'We will make sure that state and local officials know how much supply they are getting and when to expect it so they can plan,' he added.
Earlier, the incoming administration confirmed that Biden would be doing away with the name 'Operation Warp Speed.'
'Operation Warp is the Trump team's name for their program. We are phasing in a new structure, which will have a different name than OWS,' incoming White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Twitter. 'Many of the public servants will be essential to our response, but urgent need to address failures of the Trump team approach to vaccine distribution.'
Bloomberg first reported Friday morning that the moniker 'Operation Warp Speed' would be replaced by the more obvious 'COVID response.'
Psaki said the 'comprehensive COVID response' would be run directly out of the White House.
Trump used Operation Warp Speed as the name for his administration's push to get drug companies to rapidly develop a COVID-19 vaccine, which was successful. The administration has continued to use the brand while distributing the vaccine.
So far the distribution of the two approved vaccines has been marked with problems.
Biden maintains that the administration can accomplish the goal of 100 million shots completed within his first 100 days.
'Some wonder if we are reaching too far with that goal. Is it achievable?' he said Friday. 'Let me be clear: I am convinced we can get it done.'
'And this is the time to set big goals and to pursue them with courage and conviction because the health of the nation is at stake,' the president-elect added.
In a tweet sent out before his speech, the president-elect promised he would 'move heaven and earth' to 'allow more people to get vaccinated' and 'create more places for them to get vaccinated.'
He said he would be mobilizing medical teams to get more shots in arms.
And 'increase vaccine supply and get it out the door as soon as possible.'
On Friday morning, the Biden-Harris transition announced additional appointments to the administration's COVID-19 team.
Dr. Bechar Choucair, who is currently the chief health officer for Kaiser Permanente, will be responsible for meeting the administration's goal of getting 100 million Americans vaccinated within its first 100 days, Psaki explained in her tweets.
Bloomberg reported that David Kessler, a former head of the Food and Drug Administration, would replace Moncef Slaoui, who ran Operation Warp Speed under Trump.
Kessler's job, which falls under Biden's Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Xavier Becerra, will be to maximize the current supply of vaccines and work with drug companies to add to the U.S. supply.
Even before Friday's rollout, Biden's team had expressed concern that the 'Operation Warp Speed' branding was hurting the reputation of the vaccines.
'One last myth that I want to dispel is a concern that I've heard from some people that this vaccine was developed too fast, right?' Vivek Murthy, the incoming surgeon general, said on a call this week, Bloomberg reported.
Vivek said he realized that perception may be coming from the project's name.
'So, even the name of the entity in government that was charged with trying to figure out how to get a vaccine quickly was called Operation Warp Speed, right?' he said.
Becerra, Vivek and and COVID Coordinator Jeff Zients held a call Monday with union leaders on COVID-19 vaccinations assuring participants that working people would have access to doses.