Biden announces 5-point vaccination plan
Biden outlined a five-point vaccination plan Friday to ramp up rollout when he takes office.
On day one, he said he plans to instruct the Federal Emergency Management Agency to start opening the first of thousands of federally supported community vaccination centers across the nation. By the end of his first month in office, 100 of these centers will be open, Biden said, at places that are "convenient and accessible," such as school gymnasiums, community centers and sports stadiums.
"As we build them, we're going to make sure it's done equitably," Biden said. "We're going to make sure there are vaccination sites in areas hit harder by the pandemic, in Black and Hispanic communities as well."
Within the first month, his administration also plans to promote mobile vaccination clinics "to hard-hit and hard-to-reach communities in cities, small towns and in rural communities," he said.
Thirdly, the administration plans to "fully activate the pharmacies across the country to get the vaccination into more arms as quickly as possible," Biden said. This will include working with both independent and chain pharmacies to help people more easily make appointments, he said.
The fourth point of the plan involves ramping up vaccine supply through the Defense Production Act, Biden said.
"We'll use the Defense Protection Act to work with private industry to accelerate the making of materials needed to supply and administer the vaccine, from tubes and syringes to protective equipment," Biden said.
Lastly, Biden promised transparency on vaccine supply.
"We're going to make sure state and local officials know how much supply they'll be getting and when they can expect to get it so they can plan," he said. "Right now, we're hearing that they can't plan, because they don't know how much supply of vaccines they can expect at what time frame."
Biden stressed that his administration is not changing the Food and Drug Administration's recommended dosing schedules.
"We believe it's critical that everyone should get two doses within the FDA-recommended time frame. So we're not doing away with that availability," he said.
