Wot no coronavirus thread? Part 2

[giblets]

President Biden on Thursday signed an executive order to back up Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines recommending that international travelers quarantine for seven days after arriving in the United States.

Biden’s executive order says travelers must comply with CDC orders that require a negative COVID-19 test to get into the country as well as a quarantine period upon arrival to the states.

The CDC recently released a new mandate requiring international travelers to get a negative coronavirus test at least three days before their flight. The mandate is set to go into effect Tuesday.

Biden also signaled that he wants U.S. agencies to talk with Canada and Mexico about COVID-19 protocols at ports of entry to the country.

“The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of HHS, the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of CDC, shall immediately commence diplomatic outreach to the governments of Canada and Mexico regarding public health protocols for land ports of entry,” the order states.

Those agencies have two weeks to return to Biden with a plan for health measures they recommend at ports of entry.

Biden also wants agencies to “immediately take action” to require that people wear masks in airports and on commercial aircraft, trains, public maritime vessels — including ferries — intercity bus services and all public transportation. Those agencies are allowed to make exceptions on a case-by-case basis.

Many of these measures have already been in place during the pandemic. Businesses and public transportation have been requiring masks and the CDC has had its guidelines for international travel posted before Biden’s inauguration.

Biden has promised to be very proactive when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic. Millions of Americans have already been vaccinated against the deadly virus with millions more hoping to get vaccinated soon.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/535344-biden-requires-international-traveler-to-quarantine-upon-arrival-to

[-Jrabbit]

Actually, Dr. Fauci feels this overstates things a bit:

Fauci disputes reports vaccine distribution efforts have to start "from scratch"

From CNN's DJ Judd

Dr. Anthony Fauci seemed to contradict reports that the Trump administration had no plan for widespread Covid-19 vaccine rollout, telling reporters in the briefing room, “we’re certainly not starting from scratch, because there is activity going on in the distribution.”

He touted plans for community vaccine centers, pharmacy buy-in, and targeted use of the Defense Production Act, adding, “it's taking what's going on, but amplifying it in a big way.”

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/president-joe-biden-news-01-21-20/h_db38461d79d88dbb9efd19204e4d902e

[BeBMan]

Trump was busy making other plans, for example how to deal with Mike Pence...

[giblets]

Biden inheriting nonexistent coronavirus vaccine distribution plan and must start 'from scratch,' sources say


(CNN)Newly sworn in President Joe Biden and his advisers are inheriting no coronavirus vaccine distribution plan to speak of from the Trump administration, sources tell CNN, posing a significant challenge for the new White House.

The Biden administration has promised to try to turn the Covid-19 pandemic around and drastically speed up the pace of vaccinating Americans against the virus. 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."

The incoming White House now faces intense pressure to make good on the promises that Biden made during the campaign and the transition phase to drastically turn things around on the pandemic and conduct himself entirely differently from Trump when it comes to the virus and vaccine distribution.

Prior to Inauguration Day, some of Biden's Covid-19 advisers had wanted to be careful not to be overly critical in public of the Trump administration's handling of the virus and vaccine, given that the Biden transition team was already having a hard time getting critical information and cooperation from the outgoing administration, the source said.

Now that the transition of power has taken place, the Biden administration is hoping that they can quickly start to get a clearer picture of where things actually stand with vaccine distribution and administration across the country, going through something of a "fact-checking" exercise on what exactly the Trump administration had and had not done, they added.

CNN has previously reported that the Biden team's most urgent concerns on Covid-19 include potential vaccine supply problems, coordination between federal and local governments, as well as funding, staffing and other resource needs for local governments. That is in addition to the emerging Covid variants, which the new White House -- in consultation with scientists and experts -- is watching warily.

Biden has made clear that slowing down the spread of Covid-19 and getting 100 million vaccine shots into Americans' arms in his first 100 days in office are of utmost priority -- goals that will shape whether Biden's first years in office are ultimately deemed successful.

Within hours of being sworn into office, Biden signed an executive order requiring masks on all federal property, a part of his campaign promise to push for a federal mask mandate during his first 100 days in office.

"This is going to be the first of many engagements we're going to have in here," Biden said in his first appearance in the Oval Office as president. "I thought with the state of the nation today there's no time to waste. Get to work immediately."

On Biden's first full day in office on Thursday, the White House is focusing on Covid-19 by rolling out a national strategy for getting the pandemic under control including numerous executive actions related to vaccination and testing.

Criticizing the "lack of cooperation" from the Trump administration as an "impediment" for the new administration, White House Covid coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters on Wednesday that he was still confident that the administration can meet its 100 million vaccine shots in 100 days target.

"For almost a year now, Americans could not look to the federal government for any strategy, let alone a comprehensive approach to respond to Covid," Zients said. "And we've seen the tragic costs of that failure. As President Biden steps into office today ... that'll change tomorrow."

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/21/politics/biden-covid-vaccination-trump/index.html

[Uncle Sparky]

What a strain! England, South Africa, Nigeria, Brazil... everyone wants their own mutation.

[BeBMan]

Yeah. The promise here is that everyone gets an offer to be vacc-ed throughout this year, until summer possibly.

Let's see...

[Dauphin]

That is partly because BoJo was willing to give pharma companies waivers of liability in the even these vaccines had unknown side effects - the government will pick up the tab. Compared to Europe which has more of a 'Are you sure it's safe?' approach.

[BeBMan]

After all you could say about BoJo's Covid response it seems the UK is doing rather well on the vaccination front.

In other Covid news I read in Kraut media the Biontech/Pfizer vacc can soon be transported for several hours at "only" 2-8 degrees C, certainly a major improvement over the ultra-cool storage required earlier.

[BeBMan]

US COVID-19 deaths now at 399,822
Put it another way: Wichita, KS = GONE

Another million cases ever 4 days.
Trump? In his bunker, plotting revenge. What a leader!

Leaving office with 400k deaths - to a large degree due to a failed response of his admin - after babbling of stopping "American carnage" in his inaug. adress: the legacy of Trump, now crowned by the tragic eventsof the last days.

Nobody could have known in 2016 how it would all end, but we certainly did know what a type of guy he is, as there was plenty of his "character" on display before.

It would be absurdly funny if it wasn't so sad, both because of the loss of life, and because of the shape he leaves the country in.

[-Jrabbit]

Hey, it's Friday afternoon in America, which means it's time for a drunken Russian to vent his spleen.
I'm OK with that. Just wish he could put together more than one sentence before hitting Post.

[Ming]

Just remember Serb... while your material may be truth in your mind, Spam is defined by what is in my mind

[Serb]

I am stable for 20 years, because the only material I have at my disposal is truth!

[-Jrabbit]

Have another drink, Serb. Maybe you'll be inspired to come up with some fresh material to rant with.

[Uncle Sparky]

You seem to be averaging around 4,000 deaths per day. I'm sure all Americans are wearing masks when in groups, staying home unless absolutely necessary, and following Dr. Fauci's other advice.

[Serb]

A land of zombies!