President-elect Joe Biden detailed his national COVID-19 vaccination plan, including administering 100 million shots during his first 100 days as president, during a Jan. 15 speech, The New York Times reported.
His plan includes $20 billion for a program that includes community vaccination centers and mobile vaccine units to reach remote areas. Mr. Biden promised to invoke the Defense Production Act if necessary to build up vaccine supply.
The plan also calls for programs "for high-risk settings, including homeless shelters, jails and institutions that serve individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities," according to the Times.
"This will be one of the most challenging operational efforts we've ever undertaken as a nation. We'll have to move heaven and earth to get more people vaccinated, to create more places for them to get vaccinated, to mobilize more medical teams to get shots in peoples' arms," Mr. Biden said, according to USA Today.
His plan includes hiring 100,000 public health workers to do jobs such as vaccine outreach and contact tracing.
The president-elect said his plan focuses on equity, and he spoke of "the tragic reality of the disproportionate impact the virus has had on Black, Latino and Native American people," according to the Times.
As the Trump administration did earlier in the week, the President-elect called for states to expand vaccine eligibility to everyone 65 and older. His plan also includes reimbursing states for the use of National Guard troops to administer vaccines.
The plan includes $50 billion to expand testing, purchase rapid tests, expand lab capacity and help schools and local governments enhance their testing programs.
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