Joe Biden cheers COVID-19 vaccine progress but says masks remain a must

Amid rise in coronavirus infection in United States, President-elect Joe Biden on Monday urged people to wear masks to slow spre of  disease. Biden also cheered latest development in COVID-19 vaccine by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.

Biden said Americans still face 'a dark winter' and need to be aggressive about wearing masks and maintaining social distance as infections continue to surge around country. His remarks came after he met with his newly formed coronavirus visory board. Earlier in day, Pfizer anunced promising results from its vaccine trial and is on track to file an emergency use application with regulators this month. Reacting to this, Biden said it could be months before a vaccine is widely available.

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'I implore you, wear a mask'

"We could save tens of thousands of lives if everyone would just wear a mask for next few months. t Democratic or Republican lives, American lives. Please, I implore you, wear a mask," said Joe Biden.

Democrat's team also revealed members of his coronavirus working group tasked with developing upcoming ministration's pandemic response. board will be put in motion as soon as Biden takes office in January and it will be led by former Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, Yale University public health care expert Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith and former Food and Drug ministration Commissioner David Kessler.

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Pfizer, along with German drugmaker BioNTech, anunced that it is on track to file an emergency use application with US regulators this month. As per reports,  interim analysis of Pfizer vaccine, from an independent data monitoring board, looked at 94 infections recorded so far in a study that has enrolled nearly 44,000 people in US and five or countries. company said an early look at its vaccine data suggests shots maybe 90 percent effective at preventing COVID-19.

Biden's plan to tackle pandemic

Meanwhile, Biden has revealed his transition plans for tackling pandemic situation as cases climb to a new high point. number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has risen nearly 65 percent over past two weeks in US. Over  past week, one out of every 433 Americans was diagsed with coronavirus. As death toll continues to soar, hospitals in several states are running out of and staff. So far, country has recorded more than 9.8 million infections and more than 237,000 deaths from COVID-19.

After being declared as President-elect on Saturday, Biden immediately pivoted from a bitter campaign battle to reining in  pandemic that has hit world’s most powerful nation harder than any or. He anunced members of his visory board will develop a blueprint for fighting pandemic. It includes scientists and doctors who have served in previous ministrations, many of m experts in public health, vaccines, and infectious diseases.

During campaign, Biden h pledged to make testing free and widely available as well as hire thousands of health workers to help implement contact-tracing programs.

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(With inputs from ncy; Im - AP)