President-elect Joe Biden has promised a stronger U.S. government response to the coronavirus pandemic. Here’s what we know about his plans to speed up the vaccine launch and recover the Covid-19:
What is Joe Biden’s vaccine distribution plan?
Mr Biden wants to speed up the pace of vaccinations by setting a target of administering 100 million doses of the vaccine during the first 100 days of his presidency. $ 20 billion would be spent on the national vaccination program.
To speed up vaccinations, he said his administration would work with federal, state and local officials to establish thousands of community vaccination centers across the country and deploy mobile units in rural and poor areas. Biden promised 100 federally-supported centers by the end of his first month in office. The Federal Emergency Management Agency would assist in its creation and the federal government would reimburse states deploying the National Guard to help vaccinate. Biden also said it aims to increase the pace of vaccines by making shots available at independent pharmacies and chains.
In addition, Mr Biden has promised that the vaccine will be available free of charge to all members of the public, without the costs being shared, regardless of immigration status.
His administration had also planned to release almost every available dose of vaccine. The Trump administration had withheld the actions for the second dose, but then decided to release them while the Covid-19 cases were being assembled.