Apr 24 2024
Biden, POTUS-critics lament Trump’s delay “game”, fear more deaths amid spiking infections
Tue 17 Nov 2020
US President-elect Joe Biden expressed frustration Monday over Donald Trump’s refusal to cooperate on the White House transition process, saying “more people may die” of coronavirus without immediate coordination on fighting the surging pandemic.
Biden was declared winner of the November 3 election but Trump has not conceded, and his administration has so far failed to formally acknowledge the veteran Democrat as the president-elect.
That leaves Biden and his team unable to coordinate with government officials — including the House’s top immunologist Anthony Fauci — on crucial continuity of issues like national security, but also on emergencies like a distribution plan for Covid-19 vaccines to tens of millions of Americans.
Biden was asked at a press conference about the greatest threat from Trump’s obstruction of a smooth transfer of power and said that “more people may die if we don’t coordinate” on distributing vaccines as quickly as possible.
“If we have to wait until (inauguration day) January 20 to start that planning, it puts us behind for a month, a month and a half,” Biden told reporters in his home town of Wilmington in Delaware.
“And so it’s important that it be done, that there be coordination now.”
Several experts including former Trump administration officials have warned that the outgoing president’s refusal to cooperate on the transition while he challenges election results in court could have devastating consequences as the nation grapples with Covid-19 spikes.
The United States added one million new cases in less than a week, a dizzying rise to more than 11 million confirmed infections and 246,000 American deaths, a global high.
Fearing unpreparedness in the face of inheriting a pandemic-struck nation amid blocks from the current administration, Biden has now taken to developing his own vaccine distribution plan cannot start to share the plans with those who will take over in January.
“We now have the possibility, we need to see if it gets approved, of a vaccine starting perhaps in December, January. There are people at [the Department of Health and Human Services] making plans to implement that vaccine,” said Ron Klain, the Biden camp’s incoming chief of staff, and former ‘Ebola Czar’ under ex-president Barack Obama’s reign, accredited for his apt tackling of the 2014 mass pandemic.
“Our experts need to talk to those people as soon as possible so nothing drops in this change of power”, he stressed.
Former first lady Michelle Obama on Monday criticised the “groundless conspiracy theories” about the election and urged a “smooth transition of power” to the next president.
“Our love of country requires us to respect the results of an election even when we don’t like them or wish it had gone differently—the presidency doesn’t belong to any one individual or any one party,” she emphasised on Instagram.
“To pretend that it does, to play along with these groundless conspiracy theories—whether for personal or political gain—is to put our country’s health and security in danger. This isn’t a game,” she added.
Trump health advisor Scott Atlas, who has no relevant experience or qualifications in public health or infectious disease, has urged people in Michigan to “rise up” against Covid-19 measures rather than engage in an all-hands-on-deck effort to defeat the pandemic.
“What the hell is the matter with these guys?” Biden said. “It’s totally irresponsible.”
His comments came as biotech firm Moderna announced that its experimental vaccine was 94.5 percent effective.
Biden said he himself would take the vaccine, or another being developed by Pfizer, if experts like top immunologist Anthony Fauci declared them safe.
“I wouldn’t hesitate to get the vaccine if, in fact, Dr Fauci and these two organizations — whether it’s Moderna or Pfizer, who have been extremely responsible — conclude that it is safe and able to be done,” Biden said.
“The only reason people question the vaccine now is because of Donald Trump,” added Biden, who turns 78 on Friday.
He stressed that it appeared the vaccines are “on a clear path” towards safe usage. “They appear to be ready for prime time, ready to be used, and if that continues along that road, I would take the vaccine.”
[Sourced from Agencies]
