Biden is a 'game-changer' for COVID-19 response, New Jersey governor says
Having Joe Biden in the Oval Office versus Donald Trump is a "complete game-changer" for the country's COVID-19 response, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said.
"Two ways: obsession with this, knowing that public health creates economic health, and a consistent national strategy as opposed to a patchwork quilt. It's a complete game-changer over the past six days," Murphy, a Democrat, told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos in an interview Tuesday on "Good Morning America."
Murphy said his state, like many others, desperately needs more doses of COVID-19 vaccines
"We need more doses," he said. "The Biden administration knows that, they've entered into what I think is an empty cupboard and they're frantically, I know, obsessed with building that supply back."
New Jersey has confirmed more than 666,000 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, including at least 20,972 deaths. The Garden State has administered 551,209 doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of Tuesday morning, according to real-time data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has delivered almost double the amount of vaccine doses to New Jersey than have been administered there. Murphy said part of the issue is that a federally-run long-term care channel is putting aside doses in advance of visits to nursing homes and other care facilities.
"So it looks like they're not getting used. Those are actually earmarked for distribution over the next week or two," he said. "And then on the state side, ... we're not throwing any doses away, I promise you that. ... We are putting as many shots in the arms as possible."
In order for New Jersey to meet the goal of vaccinating 70% of its population within six months, Murphy said the state needs two or three times the weekly dosage of COVID-19 vaccines that they're currently getting.
"I'm confident we'll get there," he said. "It's not going to be as early as we had hoped, but I'm confident we're going to get there and I think by the time we turn to the summer, we're in a whole different place."
Biden aims to reopen all elementary schools and bring students for in-person learning within the first 100 days of his presidency, but Murphy said New Jersey will likely have to do a mix of remote and in-person learning.
"I'm not sure we can do it all in, fully in-person," he said. "I think the game-changer will be whether or not we can get the vaccinations for our educators."