President-elect Joe Biden’s chief of staff, Ron Klain, claims the incoming administration is facing an uphill battle in terms of vaccine distribution.
CNN’s Jake Tapper argued Biden is “inheriting kind of a mess” and called the current vaccine rollout “awful.”
“We’re inheriting a huge mess here, Jake. But, we have a plan to fix it. The president-elect laid out that plan on Friday… five concrete steps to move us forward, to make pace with the vaccination,” Klain said.
He continued, “I want to give the vaccine makers credit. They are producing vaccine. We think there are things we can do to speed up the delivery of that vaccine.”
Tapper pressed Klain on what the administration plans to do to speed up the process.
Klain noted Biden mentioned using the Defense Production Act to increase the production of syringes.
Watch his comments below:
Despite a Trump administration promise, the federal government has no more "reserve" of 2nd coronavirus vaccine doses
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 17, 2021
"We're inheriting a huge mess here…but we have a plan to fix it," Incoming WH Chief of Staff Ron Klain tells CNN's Jake Tapper https://t.co/TTbRVhvQZR #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/QJjofqlHQR
“We believe there will be adequate supply to give people their second shots and, more importantly, we believe that there will be continued supply and distribution of that supply to hit that target of 100 million shots in 100 days,” Klain said.
Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former head of the Food and Drug Administration, told CBS on Sunday he is optimistic Biden can deliver on his promise but suggested demand could become an issue, as IJR previously reported.
“I think they will hit that 100 million mark. I think the issue’s going to become demand. I think they’re going to have the supply in place and the distribution in place to do that,” Gottlieb said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci told NBC last month that the vaccine’s rollout has been “disappointing,” as IJR previously reported.
In hist last message of 2020, President Donald Trump touted the administration’s vaccine distribution.
“The world will benefit. We’ll benefit. And everybody’s calling to thank me,” Trump said.
