Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, refuted a report from CNN on Thursday — which was based on sources inside the Biden administration, where Fauci now works — that claimed that the Trump administration did not have a vaccine distribution plan and that the new administration had to start “from scratch.”
The disputed report, from CNN reporter MJ Lee, stated:
But in the immediate hours following Biden being sworn into office on Wednesday, sources with direct knowledge of the new administration’s Covid-related work told CNN one of the biggest shocks that the Biden team had to digest during the transition period was what they saw as a complete lack of a vaccine distribution strategy under former President Donald Trump, even weeks after multiple vaccines were approved for use in the United States.
“There is nothing for us to rework. We are going to have to build everything from scratch,” one source said.
Another source described the moment that it became clear the Biden administration would have to essentially start from “square one” because there simply was no plan as: “Wow, just further affirmation of complete incompetence.”
Fauci was asked during a press conference if “the Biden administration is starting from scratch with the vaccine distribution effort,” to which Fauci responded, “We certainly are not starting from scratch because there is activity going on in the distribution.”
“But if you look at the plan that the president has put forth about the things that he’s going to do, mainly get community vaccine centers up, get pharmacies more involved, where appropriate get the Defense Production Act involved not only, perhaps, with getting more vaccine, but even the things you need to get a good vaccine program, for example needles and syringes,” Fauci continued. “So it’s taking what’s gone on, but amplifying it in a big way.”
When asked about Biden’s claim that what was left was abysmal, Fauci responded: “We’re coming in with fresh ideas, but also some ideas that were not bad ideas with the previous administration; you can’t say it was absolutely not usable at all.”
Dr. Fauci debunks a CNN report stating the Biden White House was "starting from scratch" and inherited "no plan" on vaccine distribution from the Trump team:
"We certainly are not starting from scratch because there is activity going on in the distribution." pic.twitter.com/9tULjHazxz
— Alex Salvi (@alexsalvinews) January 22, 2021
“The seven-day rolling average of coronavirus vaccines administered to Americans is 914,000, according to the Bloomberg vaccine tracker, with 1.6 million doses administered on Wednesday alone,” National Review reported. “Biden’s plan calls for a million Americans to be vaccinated each day.”
“When asked by a reporter whether the goal to vaccinate one million people per day is not ambitious enough, Biden said that the goal was a ‘good start,'” the report added. “When I announced it you all said it wasn’t possible. Come on, give me a break, man,’ Biden said.”