Posted 3 years ago
Vice President Kamala Harris said the Biden administration was left "starting from scratch" in many aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic response.
In an interview, Harris told "Axios on HBO" that when she and President Joe Biden arrived in office, they found officials working under President Donald Trump had left no vaccine stockpile and no national strategy for distribution.
"We were leaving it to the states or local leaders to try and figure it out, and so in many ways we're starting from scratch on something that's been raging for almost an entire year," she said. Biden has said similar things, telling CBS News on February 7 that when he arrived in office he found the situation was "even more dire" than he had imagined.
Many former Trump officials have disputed the claim, saying they did have a plan; however multiple Governors have talked about the lack of coordination from the federal government when it came to distributing the vaccine. This is not unheard of, as typically healthcare is left to the states. But in the pandemic, this approach has been criticized by public-health experts. Asked whether the situation would affect the administration's goals, Harris said the standard had to be "'Everything is possible,' but we're going to have to work like heck to get it done.
"Which means again, no patience for delay, no patience for 'no,' no patience for 'it can't be done.'"
Topic: US News
Tags: Covid vacine Kamala Harris Donald Trump