President-elect Joe Biden urged Americans to wear masks as he raised fears of a very dark winter ahead. He delivered his words after a briefing from his Covid-19 advisory board. Biden’s message followed positive developments from the drug company, Pfizer. On Monday, the company announced that its coronavirus supposed vaccine is 90% effective. The president-elect repeated his message of national unity and advised Americans to put aside partisan disputes as the nation endures growing infections. The US has crossed more than 10 million confirmed cases with nearly 240,000 deaths. Biden said, “It doesn’t matter who you voted for, where you stood before Election Day. We can save tens of thousands of lives if we just wear a mask”.
Point to be noted that Pfizer is expected to file an emergency use application with the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) by the end of November 2020. The company has arranged with the federal government to distribute up to 100 million doses of the vaccine if it is proved effective. Biden delivered his words in Delaware and said, “But, the challenge before us now is still immense and growing”. The public health crisis was central to the 2020 presidential race. The former US vice president criticized Donald Trump’s delayed response to the outburst with false claims regarding its deadly impact that contradicted health experts in his own administration and failure to coordinate an adequate national response to a disease.
The covid-19 outbreak continues to infect as many as 100,000 Americans each day and 8 months into the emergency. Biden and vice president-elect Kamala Harris have prepared a blueprint to combat the novel virus when they enter the office in January. A 13-member Covid-19 advisory board includes health experts from previous presidential administrations. Biden said, “The advisory board has been tasked with implementing a strategy built on a bed-rock of science with compassion and empathy at its core”. The board includes former FDA commissioner David Kessler (served under the George HW Bush and Bill Clinton administrations), General Vivek Murthy (Barack Obama’s former surgeon), and Dr. Zeke Emanuel (a former Obama adviser).