Published 13:24 IST, January 22nd 2021
Trump administration leaves ‘nonexistent’ COVID-19 vaccination plan for Biden
Newly sworn in US senator, Raphael Warnock, said that the Trump administration didn't leave the COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan for the new administration.
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Having sworn in as the 46th president of the United States, Joe Biden on January 21 reportedly inherited a nonexistent cover vaccination plan from the dissolved Trump administration. This comes amid the confusion and chaos around the federal tallies of vials, as several US states reported that they were running out of vaccine supply falling short of doses reflecting in the official reports for Trump administration, a source close to Biden transition team told CNN. Meanwhile, in an interview with 11Alive's Cheryl Preheim, Georgia's new US senator, Raphael Warnock, said that the Trump administration didn't leave the COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan for the new administration, leaving states in limbo.
“It was quite striking to learn not that we were terribly surprised - that the Trump administration left with no plan to distribute this vaccine,” Warnock said in a LIVE televised address that aired Thursday.
“We’ve got important work to do, we’ve got to pass COVID relief, we need to make sure that we do what is necessary to get this vaccine safely and efficiently distributed,” the newly sworn-in Senator said.
No vaccine distribution plan
There is no vaccine distribution plan to speak of that the Biden administration is inheriting from Trump. This leaves the administration to have to build everything from scratch, sources related to Biden transition team told CNN. At a White House presser with Biden press secretary Joe Psaki, US top infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci confirmed to the report, saying, “We're certainly not starting from scratch, because there is activity going on in the distribution, but Biden’s team would be amplifying existing efforts.”
States, including New York, Tennessee, and West Virginia are reporting a shortfall in the shipment of the vials that were planned to be dispatched by the Trump administration. Doses delivered mismatch with the shipment tallies that reflect on the administration’s record, this has caused increased concern for incoming administration regarding the accuracy of the doses delivered by the federal government. Calling it an enormous challenge, the team also refused to confront the chaos about numbers with the Trump administration, fearing that they would stop cooperating altogether.
13:24 IST, January 22nd 2021