US president-elect Joe Biden on Friday predicted a “bleak future” if the US Congress does not take speedy action on a COVID-19 aid bill amid a nationwide spike in the virus that is hampering the country’s economic recovery.
He also expressed concern that so far he has seen “no detailed plan” from the administration of US President Donald Trump on how to distribute an approved coronavirus vaccine, but said he and his team are working on their own proposal to fill in the gaps.
Biden delivered remarks reacting to last month’s national jobs report, which showed a sharp decrease in US hiring even as the country is about 10 million jobs below pre-pandemic levels.
Photo: Reuters
He called the report “dire” and said it “shows the economy is stalling,” but he said quick action from Congress can halt some of the damage.
“If we act now — I mean now — we can begin to regain momentum and start to build back a better future,” he said. “There’s no time to lose.”
Surging cases of the virus have led states and municipalities to roll back their reopening plans.
More restrictions might be on the way as lower temperatures and holiday travel lead to records for confirmed cases and deaths.
Biden has said that while he does not support a nationwide lockdown, he plans to ask Americans to commit to 100 days of mask-wearing to help combat the virus as one of his first acts as US president.
However, one of his major challenges in turning the tide of the coronavirus pandemic would be distributing a vaccine. While the Trump administration has undertaken some planning around vaccine distribution, Biden said that its proposal lacks significant details.
“There is no detailed plan — that we’ve seen, anyway — as to how you get a vaccine out of a container, into an injection syringe, into someone’s arm,” he said.
He said that while his team agrees with some of the priorities the Trump administration has laid out in its vaccine distribution plan, more work needs to be done.
One of the major questions, Biden added, is how to get the vaccine to minority communities, which are disproportionately affected by the virus.
He is working on an “overall plan,” and he asked US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci to be part of his COVID-19 team to help with that planning.
Biden said the distribution alone was a “very expensive proposition.”
That is part of the reason he has issued calls for Congress to take action on a coronavirus relief bill now.
While he has thrown his support behind a bipartisan economic relief bill of about US$900 billion, Biden has called it just a “down payment” and has said much more would be needed once he takes office next year.
Biden expressed optimism that he would be able to cut a deal with Republicans when he takes office, but he is certain to face a heavy lift in navigating any bill through a closely divided US Senate.
Biden said that he plans to ask Congress for funding for expanded testing, vaccine distribution, unemployment aid and help for those at risk of eviction.
He said it would be important to work together with Congress to pass additional aid, because “the country’s going to be in dire, dire, dire straits if they don’t.”
The pandemic would affect more than just Biden’s legislative focus when he takes office.
He said that it is certain to affect his Jan. 20 inauguration and that public health concerns mean he would have to skip some of the traditional festivities that go along with the event.
He said there likely would not be “a gigantic inaugural parade” down Pennsylvania Avenue or “a million people on the [National] Mall” to watch his swearing-in.
He predicted it would look more like the Democratic National Convention, which was largely virtual and broadcast on television and online.
“First and foremost in my objective is to keep America safe, but still allow people to celebrate,” Biden said. “To celebrate and see one another celebrating.”
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