Republican Whip Steve Scalise responds to comments made by Jeff Zients, the coordinator of President Biden’s COVID-19 task force, claiming the vaccine supply is “so much worse” than expected.
On Thursday Scalise’s office released a statement regarding Zients’ comments saying:
“Comments made about vaccine supply and distribution by the White House’s coronavirus czar are old Washington spin. The fact is the Biden Administration inherited contracts for 300 million doses of vaccines for two approved vaccines and two in the final stage of clinical trials. Because of Operation Warp Speed and President Trump’s strong leadership, the United States is already administering close to a million vaccines a day. By doing simple math, we are on track to deliver 100 million doses in 100 days, showing that President Biden’s plan is not a new plan at all and leans on the Trump Administration’s success. If President Biden wants to develop a new plan to administer 200 million vaccines in 100 days, Congressional Republicans stand ready to work with President Biden to help further speed vaccine distribution.”
The Trump vaccination plan Scalise speaks of is an apparent mystery to the new administration. The Associated Press reports Biden officials say they were hampered by lack of cooperation from the Trump administration during the transition. They say they don’t have a complete understanding of their predecessors’ actions on vaccine distribution.
Scalise is also a ranking member of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis.
