Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 12:24 pm
President-elect Joe Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, are already having conversations about how to tackle the pandemic and distribute the vaccine once it’s fully available and safe to take.
During an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Biden said he spoke to Dr. Fauci on Thursday about masking measures that the incoming president can take once he’s sworn in, and about how to build trust around a COVID vaccine.
“I asked [Dr. Fauci] to stay on in the exact same role he’s had for the past several presidents,” Biden said. “And I asked him to be a chief medical adviser for me as well and to be part of the COVID team.”
The president-elect said that the day he is sworn in he will call on the American people to wear masks for 100 days, which he says could “drive down the numbers considerably,” especially when coupled with the vaccine.
Video:
President-elect Biden tells Jake Tapper he will ask all Americans to wear masks for the first 100 days after he takes office: “I think we’ll see a significant reduction … to drive down the numbers considerably” https://t.co/lQkT0HPc5h pic.twitter.com/PxIGzPjxP7
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) December 3, 2020
Biden said:
My chief of staff worked with him in the last crisis. He’s been talking to him all the time, Ron Klain. I talked to him today, we spoke today at 3 o’clock. My COVID team met with him. I asked him to stay on in the exact same role he’s had for the past several presidents. And I asked him to be a chief medical adviser for me as well and to be part of the COVID team. So what has to be done is we have to make it clear to the American people that the vaccine is safe when that is determined. And number two, you have to make sure – as he points out – you don’t have to close down the economy like a lot of folks are talking about now if, in fact, you have clear guidance. … We talked about masking. It is important that we, in fact, the president and the vice president – we set the pattern by wearing masks. But beyond that, where the federal government has authority I am going to issue a standing order that in federal buildings you have to be masked. In interstate transportation, you must be masked. In airplanes, in buses, etc. I think my inclination, Jake, is on the first day I’m inaugurated, I’m going to ask the public for 100 days to mask. Just 100 days to mask. Not forever, 100 days. And I think we’ll see a significant reduction if that occurs with vaccinations and masking to drive down the numbers considerably.
Not only did the president-elect ask Dr. Fauci to stay on past Jan. 20, 2021, but the doctor said earlier on Thursday that would, indeed, remain in his role once Biden takes office.
Donald Trump barely speaks to Dr. Fauci
As Joe Biden builds his COVID response team and works with Dr. Fauci on a plan to tackle this pandemic once he takes office, Donald Trump has gone completely off the radar.
Not only has Trump given up on fighting the virus as it surges to record levels, but he reportedly doesn’t even speak to Dr. Fauci.
Donald Trump’s refusal to take the virus seriously since the beginning of 2020 has caused needless death. America leads the world – by far – in coronavirus cases and deaths.
Luckily, Joe Biden and Dr. Fauci are already working together so they can start cleaning up Donald Trump’s COVID disaster on day one.
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