Members of the Biden administration admitted that they were behind on getting the coronavirus vaccine into the arms of Americans across the country, but blamed the delay on “bottlenecks” and the lack of a comprehensive plan from the Trump White House.
Ron Klain, President Biden’s nominee for White House Chief of Staff, said a vaccination plan “didn’t really exist when we entered the White House.”
“The fundamental difference between the Biden approach and the Trump approach is that we are going to take responsibility with the federal government,” Klain said on Sunday. NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
Xavier Becerra, the nominee to lead Health and Human Services, linked Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus contingency plan to address the increasing number of cases across the country.
‘The plane in a dive. And we have to pull it up, ” Becerra said on CNN. ‘And you are not going to do that overnight. But we’re going to pull it. We have to pull it up. Failure is not an option.”
“But first you have to save people, you have to save the economy,” he said. “President Biden made it clear: it won’t happen overnight.”
He sidestepped a question on CNN’s “State of the Union” about when someone who wants a COVID-19 vaccine “will be able to get one.”
“Well, that’s a matter of making sure we coordinate with the states, because it’s not the federal government that is bringing the vaccine in,” he said of “State of the Union.”
“But we’re trying to provide it, or provide the resources, and they help make it happen. And what we want to make sure is that when the locals do this, they have a clear plan, ”Becerra continued.
Becerra pressed a timeline for the vaccine by CNN anchor Dana Bash, saying he cannot say specifically when it will, but claimed the Biden administration will be transparent about their plans.
“We provide people with information immediately. We’re not trying to hide the ball. And once we have that information, I guarantee we will share, ”he said.
Becerra also defended Biden’s pledge to commit to 100 million shots in office in his first 100 days in office, saying the president was working with data he had before they entered the White House.
“Once we’re in the House to handle things, we’ll be able to get more precision, but you have to give us the opportunity to find out what’s going on in the cockpit that is what makes this plane dive so seriously,” he said.
Klain said making up for the 100 million shots would still be “quite an achievement.”