Frustrated Biden Transition Team with Trump's Obstinacy... "Will Meet COVID-19 Vaccine Manufacturers Directly"

"Trump's Refusal to Concede Election Hampers Vaccine Distribution Talks"
Fauci: "Effective Response Requires Cooperation Between Administration and Transition Team"
US COVID Cases Surpass 11 Million... 1 Million Increase in One Month

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The transition team of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has stated that due to former President Donald Trump's refusal to concede the election, the transfer of power has not proceeded properly, raising concerns about disruptions in the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. Scientific advisors within the transition team plan to meet directly with pharmaceutical companies producing the vaccine this week to discuss distribution issues. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), also emphasized that given the severe COVID-19 situation in the U.S., cooperation between both sides is urgently needed, regardless of the ongoing election dispute lawsuits.

On the 15th (local time), Ron Klain, nominated as Chief of Staff for President-elect Joe Biden, said in an interview with NBC that "the Trump administration is blocking the Biden transition team from working with health officials regarding the vaccine, so the transition team has begun developing its own vaccine distribution plan." He added, "Starting this week, the transition team's COVID-19 advisors will meet with vaccine manufacturers, including Pfizer, to discuss plans for vaccine distribution and logistics."

Klain stated, "The effort to manufacture vaccines in laboratories and then distribute them effectively to Americans is a massive logistics project that requires careful cooperation," emphasizing, "It is not the vaccine itself that saves lives, but the vaccination that saves lives." He continued, "There are people within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) who are planning vaccine implementation. Biden's transition experts need to talk to these people as soon as possible to ensure that the flow of the transition process is not interrupted," urging, "We call on the Trump administration to quickly accept the election results and cooperate with the transition process."

Dr. Fauci, known as an authority on infectious diseases in the U.S., also called for cooperation between the Trump administration and Biden's transition team to overcome the COVID-19 crisis. Appearing on CNN, Fauci said, "If Biden's health policy team can currently work with the government's health authorities, more effective response measures will emerge," emphasizing, "In my 36 years serving under six presidents, there have been multiple power transitions, and smooth information transfer has always been critically important."

However, as President Trump continues to refuse to concede the election, the White House's COVID-19 response task force is reportedly virtually inactive. Brett Giroir, Assistant Secretary for Health at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), pointed out in an interview with ABC News that "It has been five months since President Trump last attended a COVID-19 task force meeting, and Vice President Mike Pence, who chairs the meetings, only briefs President Trump daily."

While President Trump's refusal to concede continues, the COVID-19 situation in the U.S. is rapidly worsening. According to the global statistics site Worldometer, the daily confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S. reached a record high of 187,907 on the 13th, breaking previous records again, and the cumulative confirmed cases increased by over one million in just over a month. As of the 15th, the U.S. has recorded 11,364,801 cumulative confirmed cases and 251,832 cumulative deaths.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.