White House: Virus will kill many more people
Health experts lead renewed briefings
WASHINGTON – As many as 90,000 more Americans are projected to die from the coronavirus in the next four weeks, the Biden administration warned in its first science briefing on the COVID-19 pandemic, as experts outlined efforts to improve the delivery and injection of COVID-19 vaccine doses.
The hourlong briefing Wednesday by the team charged by President Joe Biden with ending the pandemic was meant to deliver on his promise of “leveling” with the American people about the state of the outbreak that has already claimed more than 425,000 U.S. lives.
The striking projection on deaths wasn’t much different from what Biden himself has said but nonetheless served as a stark reminder of the brutal road ahead.
Wednesday’s briefing was conducted virtually, rather than in person at the White House, to allow for questions from health journalists and to maintain a set timing no matter the situation in the West Wing. But it was not without technical glitches.
It featured Jeff Zients, the administration’s coordinator for pandemic response; his deputy, Andy Slavitt; Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert; Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, the chair of Biden’s COVID-19 equality task force; and Dr. Rochelle Walensky, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The White House respects and will follow the science, and the scientists will speak independently,” Slavitt said.
Zients, who previously ran the Obama administration’s efforts to salvage the rollout of HealthCare.gov, used to sign up for Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges, repeated that the federal government no longer has a stockpile of vaccines to distribute. He said that the Biden administration was examining additional ways of speeding vaccine production, a day after the president announced that the U.S. plans to have delivered enough doses for 300 million Americans by the end of summer.
But getting those doses administered is a different matter.
“Most states are getting better at putting needles in arms,” Zients said, calling on Congress to swiftly act to pass Biden’s
“American Rescue Plan.” The $1.9 trillion bill includes $400 billion for measures specifically aimed at controlling the virus, including dramatically increasing the pace of vaccinations and building out an infrastructure for widespread testing.
Zients said the federal Department of Health and Human Services acted Wednesday to make more professionals available to administer vaccinations. The government will authorize nurses and doctors who have retired to administer vaccines, and professionals licensed in one state will also be able to give shots in other states.
Walensky, the new head of the CDC, said her agency’s latest forecast indicates the U.S. will reach between 479,000 and 514,000 deaths by Feb. 20. More than 425,000 Americans have already died in the pandemic.