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Two events mark Trump and Biden's approach to the pandemic

2020-12-08T15:53:30.877Z


As President-elect Joe Biden presents a group of experts to handle the pandemic, Trump will hold an event to claim credit for the vaccine.


Joe Biden will face four crises in his next government 2:00

Washington (CNN) -

The president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden, will present this Tuesday the scientists and doctors who, according to him, will finally defeat the coronavirus pandemic.

But for now, his team can only watch a wave of infection and death deepen the crisis he will face after January 20.

As Biden will make his most significant advance yet in his plan to tackle the worst health challenge in 100 years, President Donald Trump, whose breach of duty has contributed to the alarming winter surge, will hold his own event on the pandemic. .

He will ask for credit for the rapid development of covid-19 vaccines and will sign a decree that prioritizes supply for Americans.

The dual events - one in Biden's hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, and another in the White House - will showcase the vastly different approaches to the pandemic between Trump and Biden.

The president has repeatedly downplayed the disaster, instead focusing on false claims that last month's election was stolen.

Biden, whose own campaign was an exercise to demonstrate physical distancing and the use of masks, is committed to putting science back at the center of the fight against the virus.

  • Trump signs 'buy America first' pharmaceutical decree

Fauci: Vaccine could make it difficult to spread covid-19 0:44

Meanwhile, the tragedy of the pandemic is compounded by the political vacuum in Washington.

Trump, in his final weeks in office, has the power and the presidential megaphone that could go a long way in convincing Americans to take precautions, but he is unwilling to do so.

Biden has his plans and a new team of experts who could make a difference, but he has no real power to change American behavior and policies until he takes office next month.

The next vaccines from a handful of pharmaceutical giants offer hope that normal life can be restored next year, although getting them into the arms of tens of millions of Americans will be a major logistical challenge.

However, there is no doubt that the crisis is rapidly deteriorating.

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Covid-19 cases are on the rise and a devastating "dark" moment is expected in the US.

Baylor College of Medicine's Dr. Peter Hotez warned Monday on CNN that the US, which is approaching 15 million covid-19 infections and a total death toll of 300,000, and could soon see 3,000 deaths from coronavirus every day.

America's leading infectious disease specialist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said on Monday that after the projected waves after Thanksgiving and Christmas begin, "mid-January could be a really dark time for us." .

That means the Biden administration will take office at the most extreme moment of the crisis and will be faced with the task of catching up and managing the enormously complicated operation to administer tens of millions of doses of vaccines.

Biden's call on all Americans in an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper is to wear masks for the first 100 days of his presidency.

This will likely be even more appropriate given that current infection levels will likely be dwarfed by the time you get to the Oval Office.

The measures of Biden and Harris to contain the covid-19 9:53

There's also the question of whether millions of Americans who believe Trump's bogus claims of a rigged election will be willing to take the advice of a president whom his predecessor, who disdains the wearing of masks, spent weeks baselessly calling illegitimate.

  • ANALYSIS |

    Trump's pandemic blindness and electoral denial darken America's desperate winter

Trump Plans 'America First' Coronavirus Vaccine Summit

Trump continues to lie about the severity of the pandemic, insisting for weeks that the United States is "turning the corner" in the disaster that his negligence exacerbated.

The president continues to flout advice on physical distancing and avoid large meetings of his own government.

This Tuesday, he plans to use a vaccine summit to sign a decree at the White House.

The decree will prioritize shipping the coronavirus vaccine to Americans over other countries.

The administration's Operation Maximum Speed ​​deserves some of the credit for the rapid development of vaccines.

But Tuesday's event also appears to reflect the president's relentless focus on using the crisis to advance his own political priorities, as senior administration officials boasted that Trump viewed the effort as a way to push his foreign policy principle of "America first."

It's probably also not a coincidence that the president is trying to cause such a stir following a New York Times report that found that his administration had rejected an offer from vaccine maker Pfizer last summer to sell more supplies to the United States. of your vaccine.

In recent days, it has emerged that previous predictions by administration officials that several hundred million doses of vaccines will be available by the end of the year will be too short, leaving states without enough vaccines to protect them. front-line healthcare workers when they receive their first deliveries.

Biden and the coronavirus vaccine

Loyce Pace, a public health expert who sits on Biden's coronavirus advisory board, said she hoped the other vaccines to come would mean Pfizer's situation would not represent a serious setback.

“Those of us on the transition advisory board are hopeful that we will not find a problem regarding the shortage.

But I think we just have to go in and understand where we are with those plans and supplies, "Pace told CNN's Erin Burnett.

The timing of Trump's event is also suspicious because Tuesday's headlines are expected to be dominated by coverage that the UK is already the first country to administer vaccines after a rigorous clinical trial process.

Trump had hoped to stage his own "America First" victory lap, and CNN reported last week that he was furious that Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials - who are expected to grant emergency clearance for the Pfizer vaccine this week — they would not have beaten their British counterpart in clearance.

Trump took this attitude despite the FDA's process being considered the global gold standard and officials already face a difficult task convincing many skeptical Americans to get vaccinated.

  • ANALYSIS |

    Biden's projection for his first 100 days in office

Biden's team seeking to end the pandemic

Will Joe Biden appoint more black people to his cabinet?

2:03

In Wilmington, the president-elect will introduce a new healthcare team characterized by the kind of scientific rigor that Trump has often despised during the pandemic.

The lineup includes former Director of Health Services Vivek Murthy, whom Biden plans to appoint to a second term at the same job.

There is also Dr. Rochelle Walensky, whom the president-elect has chosen to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Fauci accepted an invitation from Biden to remain director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a position he has held since 1984. The globally respected expert will also serve as medical director for the Biden administration.

But some Republicans are already raising alerts for the selection of California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Xavier Becerra, elected to the Health Department 2:18

"I think it will be controversial," said Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, citing the positions of Biden's appointee on lump-sum health care and abortion.

"Some of these people are quite radical."

The comment raised the possibility that Biden will face a protracted confirmation showdown over his health secretary at the darkest moment of the worst public health crisis in 100 years.

The deep concern among health experts is all the more acute because there is so much good news as more potential vaccine candidates are recruited that have shown high efficacy.

But fatigue from physical distancing, the temptation for people to gather during the holiday period of the end of the year and the president's efforts to minimize the severity of the threat could cause hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths.

"I can't help but think that since Americans lose their lives in the next few weeks, none of those people have to lose their lives," Baylor College's Hotez told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on "Situation Room."

“If we could take them to the other side to be vaccinated, they could live a long and normal life, and that is where my priority is now, especially in the central part of the country, where people still challenge messages… where many still think that the covid it is a hoax or that the deaths are due to other causes.

Winter attack of the new coronavirus

The possible increase in covid-19 cases in winter 1:46

Without the president's leadership, the burden of stopping the virus's winter attack has once again fallen on local and state leaders.

Many are reimplementing restrictions on indoor dining, meeting sizes, and other measures.

California, which is experiencing its worst increase in COVID-19 infections since the start of the pandemic, has imposed a lockdown that will last until after Christmas.

"People are running out, they are feeling lonely and they just want it to end," California Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis told Christiane Amanpour on CNN International.

“So what we are trying to do is call on Californians to recognize that this is the most dangerous part of the entire pandemic.

But there is a light at the end of the tunnel, "he said, referring to vaccines.

Seeing its own rise in infections, Washington on Monday banned contact sports such as soccer, basketball and hockey.

Pennsylvania's Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf said he was considering new restrictions after warning that healthcare workers were becoming overwhelmed and exhausted as the situation became much more dire.

New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo received Fauci's praise on Monday for his efforts to reduce infections.

But the governor warned that his state could again experience the kind of restrictions imposed during the terrible covid-19 spring this year, and predicted that authorities would soon have to ban indoor meals in New York City.

"The frustrations that we're seeing here, we estimate that more than 70% of the spread comes from small meetings," Cuomo said.

"I've been talking about it until I feel sad about the apparent security of being home."

The lockdowns will inevitably mean a deterioration in already dire economic conditions, with millions of Americans unemployed due to the pandemic and small businesses retreating everywhere.

This makes it even more vital that Congress finally overcome its divisions and produce a new rescue plan against the economic effects of COVID-19, extending expired unemployment benefits and offering relief to companies.

The best short-term hope for those Americans is an effort to fund the government with an interim bill to buy time for more stimulus talks and a broader spending bill before Christmas.

covid-19 coronavirus vaccine

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2020-12-08

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