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Biden’s incoming chief of staff says the administration is prepared to tackle the ‘huge mess’ it’s inheriting in COVID-19 vaccine rollout

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 13: U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden (R) and Ebola Response Coordinator Ron Klain (L), participate in a meeting regarding Ebola at the Eisenhower Executive office building November 13, 2014 in Washington, D.C. Vice President Biden met with leaders of faith, humanitarian, and non-governmental organizations that are responding to the Ebola crisis in West Africa. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Then-Vice President Joe Biden and Ebola Response Coordinator Ron Klain, participate in a meeting regarding Ebola on November 13, 2014, in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Incoming White House chief of staff Ronald Klain said Sunday President-elect Joe Biden’s administration is gearing up to address the “huge mess” it is inheriting from the Trump administration regarding the coronavirus vaccine rollout.

“We’re inheriting a huge mess here…but we have a plan to fix it,” Klain told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union,” pointing to the $400 billion COVID-19 plan Biden released on Friday.

“It’s going to take a while to turn this around. The virus is the virus. What we can do is act to control it,” said Klain.

Despite a promise from the Trump administration last week that officials would release doses of the vaccine that had been reserved, the Washington Post’s Isaac Stanley-Becker and Lena Sun reported on Friday the federal government actually has no more reserve of second vaccine doses.

The administration is planning several tactics to “speed up the delivery of that vaccine,” including “using the Defense Production Act to ramp up the production of particular kinds of syringes that allow us to get six doses out of vials instead of five,” Klain said.

Biden’s COVID-19 plan includes $20 billion to invest in a national vaccine program. Klain on Sunday repeated Biden’s urging for the US to ramp up vaccinations to five to six times more than its current pace.

Klain told Tapper the administration believes there will be an adequate supply to give people their second shots and enough supply and distribution to “hit that target of 100 million shots in 100 days” after Biden’s inauguration.

Biden’s plans to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic are set to begin on his first day in office, and will include rolling back several of Trump’s policies including the Muslim travel ban and rejoining the Paris climate accord.

Read the original article on Insider



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