The president, Joe Biden, plans to sign up to a dozen executive orders this Thursday to launch his strategy to fight the coronavirus pandemic, according to the plans he released for his second day in office.
Among its goals are to
accelerate the rate of vaccinations
,
increase screening tests and reopen schools
.
To achieve this, the new government assures that it needs more funds from Congress.
Biden is asking for more than $ 400 million for his response to the pandemic in the proposed new $ 1.9 trillion stimulus package.
The measures come at one of the times of greatest crisis due to the pandemic.
Right on the day of the new president's inauguration, on Wednesday, the country recorded a record
4,131 deaths in 24 hours
due to the coronavirus, according to the count of our sister network NBC News.
While Biden has reinforced that mitigating the impact of COVID-19 is one of his priorities, his predecessor, Donald Trump,
repeatedly downplayed the dangerousness of the virus.
His management of the pandemic has been widely questioned.
The team of the new Administration assures that it was faced with a discouraging panorama when arriving at the White House, with important delays in the vaccination campaign.
In addition, a
shortage of 12 key supplies
has been identified
, including N95 masks, medical gowns and testing
supplies
.
President Joe Biden signs several executive orders this Wednesday at the White House, during his first day in office.
AP / AP
The president has set an ambitious goal of delivering
100 million doses in 100 days
.
In just over a month, the Trump Administration recorded the inoculation of 17 million doses, according to NBC News.
Jen Psaki, the new White House press secretary, told reporters Wednesday that Biden "remains absolutely committed" to invoking the Defense Production Act to bolster the availability of supplies.
Biden also plans to
create federal vaccination centers
in stadiums, gyms and conference centers, among other large facilities, based on a model already used a few days ago by several states.
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Other measures he wants to put in place are to
increase
health sector
workers
by
100,000
and use the National Guard to improve the supply of protective equipment such as masks and gloves, according to CNBC, another sister network of Telemundo.
[Biden signs executive orders to reverse Trump's most controversial policies]
Among the executive actions that he plans to sign this Thursday, there is also one that establishes
the obligation to wear masks
in airports, airplanes, trains and ships.
Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday establishing the obligation to wear face masks for all employees in federal government buildings.
In addition, the plan includes
an increase in the funds
that the federal government sends to the states to fight COVID-19 and to schools so that they can reopen their doors.
An inheritance worse than expected
One of the priorities for the new president is to accelerate the pace of vaccinations in the country, which began last month from priority groups such as seniors in residences and health,
but present several pending challenges
.
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Many states report that
they are running out of enough doses
, and tens of thousands of people who made appointments to receive one of the two doses needed to gain immunity have had them canceled.
Some of Biden's advisers note that
Trump's
team
did not share essential information
about available supplies and vaccines, or a clear vaccination plan.
"What we inherited is much worse than we could have imagined," Jeff Zients, the new coordinator of the White House COVID-19 response team, said in an interview with The New York Times.
The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, which were licensed in the United States, are running out and it is unclear whether the Administration will be able to make a significant difference to the availability of doses in the short term.
Meanwhile, cases are growing at an uncontrolled rate.
In total, at least 24.5 million people have been infected in 12 months in the United States and 407,000 have died after contracting the virus, according to data from NBC News.
Biden will encourage all states to begin vaccinating people 65 and older, along with certain essential workers, including teachers and grocery store clerks.
The United States returns to the World Health Organization
The new Administration on Thursday gave another signal of the change of gear it wants to give with respect to Trump's mandate by giving Dr. Anthony Fauci, the new president's main medical adviser, the role of announcing the reincorporation of states to the World Health Organization United, after Trump withdrew the country from her.
The United States will also support the work of the UN health agency to bring vaccines, therapies and diagnostics to people in need, whether in rich or poor countries.
[With Trump away, Joe Biden vows to bring the truth back to the White House]
"This is a good day for the WHO and a good day for global health," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director general.
With information from NBC News, CNBC, AP.
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