Biden transition, U.S. coronavirus vaccine teams to meet amid surge, distribution questions

By Doina Chiacu

 

FILE PHOTO: Former GlaxoSmithKline pharmaceutical executive Moncef Slaoui, who will serve as chief adviser on the effort to find a vaccine for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, waits to speak as President Donald Trump holds a coronavirus disease response event in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 15, 2020. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chief adviser for U.S. efforts to develop a coronavirus vaccine said on Sunday he planned to meet with President-elect Joe Biden's team this week to discuss the program before the expected first round of vaccinations this month.

 

Moncef Slaoui, chief adviser to the U.S. government's Operation Warp Speed initiative, said he has not yet met with Biden, who last week criticized the Trump administration's vaccine distribution plan.

 

"We really look forward to it because actually things have been really very appropriately planned," Slaoui said in an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation."

 

Biden said on Friday his team had not seen a detailed outline from the Trump administration to distribute a vaccine to states, which he called an expensive and difficult process.

 

The chief adviser for U.S. efforts to develop a coronavirus vaccine said on Sunday he planned to meet with President-elect Joe Biden's team this week to discuss the program. This report produced by Chris Dignam.

 

"There is no detailed plan that we've seen, anyway, as to how you get the vaccine out of a container, into an injection syringe, into somebody's arm," Biden said.

 

Slaoui said the government's plan relies on state health agencies to deliver the vaccine.

 

"I think the plans are there and I feel confident that once we will explain it, everything in detail. I hope the new transition team will understand that things are well planned," he told the CBS program.

 

It was not clear if Biden would attend the meeting himself.

 

The United States is struggling with a resurgence of the virus, with record infections and a daily death toll that has exceeded 2,000 in recent days. More than 281,000 Americans have died from the COVID-19 disease, according to a Reuters tally.

 

President Donald Trump's refusal to acknowledge his loss to Biden in the Nov. 3 presidential election caused a delay in the transition process that allowed White House health advisers to communicate with the new Biden health advisory team.

 

Biden was due to announce members of his public health team this week.

 

VACCINE MANUFACTURING DELAY

First-responders, health care workers and nursing home residents will be the first groups to receive the vaccine once the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves it, which is expected in the next week or two. The FDA's outside advisers are scheduled to meet on Thursday to review Pfizer's emergency use application for its vaccine.

 

FDA approval does not assure smooth sailing. Slaoui told CNN's "State of the Union" the vaccine manufacturing effort has been more complicated and difficult than expected.

 

"We probably are six or eight weeks later than an ideal scenario, where we had 100 million doses by the end of this year," he said. "But we are not far."

 

The people most susceptible to coronavirus would start seeing the impact of the vaccine in January or February, Slaoui said on CBS.

 

"But on a population basis, for our life to start getting back to normal, we're talking about April or May," he said.

 

With the winter holiday season approaching, U.S. health experts have been pleading with Americans to not let up on their coronavirus safety protocols - wearing masks, social distancing and avoiding large gatherings.

 

Dr. Deborah Birx, who serves on the White House coronavirus task force, told NBC's "Meet the Press" that public health officials have had to battle incorrect messages from the Trump administration about masks and other mitigation measures.

 

"I want to be very frank to the American people. The vaccine is critical. But it's not going to save us from the current surge," she said. "Only we can save us from this current surge."

 

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Paul Simao)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-12-07

 

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11 minutes ago, webfact said:

Dr. Deborah Birx, who serves on the White House coronavirus task force, told NBC's "Meet the Press" that public health officials have had to battle incorrect messages from the Trump administration about masks and other mitigation measures.

The woman who sat there looking all coy and saying absolutely nothing when Trump postulated that injecting disinfectant and putting a light inside the body were possible cures for Covid. Total hypocrite.

20 minutes ago, polpott said:

The woman who sat there looking all coy and saying absolutely nothing when Trump postulated that injecting disinfectant and putting a light inside the body were possible cures for Covid. Total hypocrite.

She was playing the game to save her job rather than stand up for the truth like Dr. Fauci. She and the Republican Senators are gutless cowards.

20 minutes ago, polpott said:

The woman who sat there looking all coy and saying absolutely nothing when Trump postulated that injecting disinfectant and putting a light inside the body were possible cures for Covid. Total hypocrite.

I beg to differ she looked to me like she was in agony no matter how you feel about trump imagine having to work for such a viscous fool there’s lots of good folks who work in public service imo get trump out of the mix and things will proceed much much better

1 hour ago, Tug said:

I beg to differ she looked to me like she was in agony no matter how you feel about trump imagine having to work for such a viscous fool there’s lots of good folks who work in public service imo get trump out of the mix and things will proceed much much better

If she was in agony why didn't she do what she's paid for and stand up and call Trump out rather than allow him to foist his dangerous lies on the American public? Self preservation, ergo hypocrisy.

 

 “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

 

 

Edited December 7, 20205 yr by polpott

Birx has a lot more to answer for than that:

 

The inside story of how Trump’s COVID-19 coordinator undermined the world’s top health agency

The inside story of how Trump’s COVID-19 coordinator undermined the world’s top health agency | Science | AAAS (sciencemag.org)

31 minutes ago, polpott said:

If she was in agony why didn't she do what she's paid for and stand up and call Trump out rather than allow him to foist his dangerous lies on the American public? Self preservation, ergo hypocrisy.

 

 “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

 

 

That’s easy trump would destroy her career pension finances home it wouldent bother him one bit in fact I think he likes it why do you think the republicans are absolutely terrified of him the dude is viscous 

45 minutes ago, Tug said:

That’s easy trump would destroy her career pension finances home it wouldent bother him one bit in fact I think he likes it why do you think the republicans are absolutely terrified of him the dude is viscous 

"Interviews with nine current CDC employees, several of them senior agency leaders, and 20 former agency leaders and public health experts—as well as a review of more than 100 official emails, memos, and other documents—suggest Birx’s hospital data takeover fits a pattern in which she opposed CDC guidance, sometimes promoting President Donald Trump’s policies or views against scientific consensus."

 

Well let's hope Biden " destroy her career pension finances home" when he gets into the White House. Kicking her into the long grass is the least she can expect.

 

5 hours ago, Tug said:

That’s easy trump would destroy her career pension finances home it wouldent bother him one bit in fact I think he likes it why do you think the republicans are absolutely terrified of him the dude is viscous 

I've heard him called "slimy" before, but never "viscous."

7 hours ago, polpott said:

The woman who sat there looking all coy and saying absolutely nothing when Trump postulated that injecting disinfectant and putting a light inside the body were possible cures for Covid. Total hypocrite.

Also fairly obvious she's very frightened of and feared getting a nasty in your face response from trump, let alone get fired.

 

Trump such a pleasant man.

Edited December 7, 20205 yr by scorecard

Covid-19 hospitalization rates are dropping. That’s terrible news.

The virus is beginning to overrun our health-care defenses. We saw something similar during the first surge, in April, when New York and other cities around the United States resorted to field hospitals and mobile morgues.

Covid-19 hospitalization rates show the virus is overwhelming the system - The Washington Post

An off-topic post re Trump's legal challenges to the election has been removed.