Biden says Trump 'behind' on vaccine distribution timeline
Fox News correspondent Jacqui Heinrich joins 'Special Report' with the latest from Wilmington, Del.
President Trump is taking aim at the states for the slow rollout so far of COVID-19 vaccinations across the country.
"The Federal Government has distributed the vaccines to the states. Now it is up to the states to administer. Get moving!" Trump tweeted on Wednesday morning.
Hours earlier, Trump emphasized in a tweet that "It is up to the States to distribute the vaccines once brought to the designated areas by the Federal Government. We have not only developed the vaccines, including putting up money to move the process along quickly, but gotten them to the states."
BIDEN SAYS TRUMP ADMINSTRATION'S COVID VACCINE DISTRIBUTION PLNS FALLING 'FAR BEHIND'
The tweets follow President-elect Joe Biden's warning that the Trump administration's effort to vaccinate Americans against the coronavirus "is falling behind, far behind."
Speaking in his hometown of Wilmington, Del., on Tuesday after meeting virtually with advisers, Biden pledged "a more aggressive effort" to get the pace of vaccinations "back on track."
Biden said that "as I long feared and warned, the effort to distribute and administer the vaccine is not progressing as it should. A few weeks ago the Trump administration suggested that 20 million Americans could be vaccinated by the end of December. With only a few days left in December, we've only vaccinated a few million so far."
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Trump officials leading Operation Warp Speed last week acknowledged that the vaccine rollout was "unlikely" to meet its goal of 20 million vaccinations by the end of the month.
Dr. Moncef Slaoui, who heads the administration's efforts to speed up vaccine production and distribution, told reporters that the process has been "slower than we thought it would be."
Biden said he has directed his team "to prepare a much more aggressive effort with more federal involvement and leadership to get things back on track. We'll find ways to boost the pace of vaccinations."
He reiterated his goal of "ensuring that 100 million shots have been administered by the end of the first 100 days."
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"If Congress provides the funding, we'd be able to meet this incredible goal. It would take ramping up five to six times the current pace to 1 million shots a day," Biden said.
The president-elect also acknowledged that "this is going to be the greatest operational challenge ever faced as a nation, but we're going to get it done."
