Covid: Biden vows 100m vaccinations for US in first 100 days

BBC – US President-elect Joe Biden has set a goal of 100 million Covid vaccinations in his first 100 days in office.

He said his first months in office would not end the outbreak and gave few details on rollout strategy but he said he would change the course of Covid-19.

Introducing his health team for when he takes office on 20 January, he urged Americans to “mask up for 100 days”.

On Tuesday, a report paved the way for a Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to be approved and rolled out for Americans.

Emergency authorisation for its use could be issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday, with the country’s top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci saying mass vaccination could start as soon as next week.

Also on Tuesday, President Donald Trump attended a summit at the White House of his Covid-19 vaccination programme, Operation Warp Speed, and hailed the expected approval of vaccines. His administration hopes to vaccinate as many as 24 million people by mid-January.

The US has recorded more than 15 million cases so far and 285,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University research, both global highs.

Many parts of the country are seeing peak infections, with record numbers of people in hospital, with some experts blaming travel by millions over the recent Thanksgiving holiday.

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At a news conference on Tuesday, Mr Biden laid out how he plans to address the pandemic in his first 100 days in office. That period is traditionally seen as a benchmark for new presidents to make their mark with new policies and ideas.

“My first 100 days won’t end the Covid-19 virus. I can’t promise that. But we did not get into this mess quickly. We’re not going to get out of it quickly,” he said at the event in Delaware, giving few details of how the largest vaccination programme in US history would be carried out.

media captionA travel nurse’s journey across the US

Last week, Mr Biden complained he had been given no rollout plans by the Trump administration. Operation Warp Speed’s top scientist Moncef Slaoui has still to meet the Biden team and is expected to do so this week.

Getting children back to school would also be a priority, the president-elect said.

Mr Biden also introduced California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as his nomination for health secretary and his choice of Rochelle Walensky as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Among his other aides will be Dr Anthony Fauci as chief Covid medical adviser. The expert also advised the Trump team and often fell foul of the president for his views.