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Biden's team keeps saying Trump left them literally no plan on Covid -- but they inherited a vaccination program already meeting their target, kept some of the same people and are pledging much of the same stuff. It's complicated.
With @rileyraygriffin: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-29/biden-covid-team-derides-trump-plan-while-borrowing-its-playbook
With @rileyraygriffin: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-29/biden-covid-team-derides-trump-plan-while-borrowing-its-playbook
For instance, Biden has repeatedly said they'll use the Defense Production Act to speed things up, but Trump used that repeatedly. (Peter Navarro was a "DPA freak," one source told me.) It's a double edged sword: moving something to the front of the line bumps something else.
In December, Biden set a goal of administering 100 million shots in his first 100 days. That was early, but the U.S. was already hitting that daily pace before he took office, and has maintained that pace on a rolling average every day since his third full day.
Biden's team is ordering more doses from Pfizer and Moderna -- by exercising options in Trump-negotiated contracts.
Trump folks say there's a reason they hadn't pulled the trigger yet -- that a third vaccine could get approved, and you wouldn't need summer Pfizer doses.
Trump folks say there's a reason they hadn't pulled the trigger yet -- that a third vaccine could get approved, and you wouldn't need summer Pfizer doses.
(Biden says he'd rather end up with a bunch of extra doses, which is fair, but is a policy choice -- rather then reinventing the wheel entirely).
The biggest difference is, of course, the tone from the top -- Biden is taking this very seriously, is wearing a mask, is begging Americans to wear a mask. Trump of course did none of that.
But, for a range of reasons, the on-the-ground vaccination plans so far are similar.
But, for a range of reasons, the on-the-ground vaccination plans so far are similar.
Biden also routinely notes how many people have died -- 433,000 so far. This is a staggering human toll of this pandemic. Again, Trump almost never mentioned it.
(Total new cases have been falling but deaths remain high, btw.) https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2020-united-states-coronavirus-outbreak/
(Total new cases have been falling but deaths remain high, btw.) https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2020-united-states-coronavirus-outbreak/
Every country is facing delays in vaccinations, and the U.S. rate trails some (UK, Israel) but is well, well ahead of others, like Germany, France and Canada.
It has been far, far behind Trump's rosy predictions, but also not a complete dumpster fire. https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-vaccine-tracker-global-distribution/
It has been far, far behind Trump's rosy predictions, but also not a complete dumpster fire. https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-vaccine-tracker-global-distribution/
Other differences are more nuanced. Biden will do mobile vaccination clinics and hire/allow more vaccinators, which isn't controversial but Trump people say basically they didn't do that yet because the shortage is in vaccines, not people/places to administer them.
There was also a sense among Trump that we didn't need federally run mass vaccination sites -- in part because states & cities were already planning them and in part because of a concern that it could fuel vaccine hesitancy. (The army or whatever rolling in to push shots on you.)
Trump's early vaccination rates, now inherited by Biden, are also going through the low-hanging fruit. It's pretty easy to vaccinate people in hospitals and long-term care homes -- you send a bunch of doses to a single place to, effectively, a captive audience. It gets harder.
So, what Biden's doing is what you'd expect -- improving on things but not throwing the baby out with the bathwater. "It’s taking what’s gone on, but amplifying it in a big way," Fauci said.
But it's not that they were literally left no plan at all. (Just one they think sucked.)
But it's not that they were literally left no plan at all. (Just one they think sucked.)
Also, Trump always liked to say that they'll send in the army to distribute vaccines! His staff pumped the brakes, saying they'd ship with UPS rather than the military.
Welp: https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1354921969746108417
Welp: https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1354921969746108417
tl;dr: vaccination programs are insanely complicated. Left-leaning and right-leaning governments around the world are proving this.
Biden's people, of course, think Trump didn't do enough, and have dunked a fair bit on it. But there are few silver bullets here. It's a slog.
Biden's people, of course, think Trump didn't do enough, and have dunked a fair bit on it. But there are few silver bullets here. It's a slog.
