Gov to Trump: Detail the vaccine program
ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo penned a letter to President Trump Thursday calling on the commander-in-chief to clarify how a coronavirus vaccine program will work.
The missive from the National Governors Association, which Cuomo heads, asks Trump for a meeting to discuss how a vaccination program would be conducted and what roles federal and state governments will play.
“Dealing with COVID is not checkers, it’s chess,” the governor said during a conference call with reporters. “Let’s start to think ahead. We’re dealing with the fall, the next step is going to be dealing with a vaccine.”
The letter, co-signed by Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican who is the National Governors Association vice chairman, says the states need “guidance and clarification” on the roles the federal government and state governments in administering and distributing the vaccine.
The request comes months after states were pitted against one another competing for personal protective gear and other necessities when coronavirus cases surged in the spring.
Cuomo, who already set up a state-based task force to evaluate vaccines approved by the federal Food and Drug
Administration, said administering 20 million vaccines to New Yorkers will be “a massive, monumental undertaking.”
He also expressed concern about people’s potential reluctance to get inoculated thanks to a growing anti-vaxxer movement and the president’s penchant for downplaying the virus.
Trump, despite the fact that no COVID-19 vaccines have been approved yet for use in the U.S., vowed during a campaign event Wednesday that the federal government will deliver 100 million vaccine doses before the end of the year.
“Under my leadership, we’re delivering a safe vaccine and a rapid recovery, and, if you vote for me, prosperity will surge,” Trump said during a rally in Pennsylvania. “Normal life, normal life.”
“The vaccine will end the pandemic once and for all,” he added.
The governor, who has repeatedly questioned the vaccine timeline coming from the White House, said that the federal government has shown that it “doesn’t have the operational capacity” to run a vaccine program that will cover all Americans.
“It could be just a matter of weeks away if you listen to the White House. It’s not that simple, and it’s very expensive and it’s complicated,” Cuomo said. “This virus has been ahead of us every step of the way.”