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An AGS Breakdown of the Biden COVID-19 Plan

By Nancy Lundebjerg posted 01-20-2021 02:45 PM

  

I have been so excited to see our AGS members getting vaccinated over the past couple of months – you have been our superheroes since the start of this pandemic, and I am grateful that essential health workers like you and our frailest Americans in nursing homes were prioritized for the vaccine. On social media, we have been celebrating with  with members as they posted photos of themselves getting vaccinated.  At the same time, like many of you, we have been concerned about the slow pace of the overall rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines and recognize that states have had varying request. Recognizing the patchwork quilt of progress in the states, AGS has continued to advocate for federal coordination and greater support to the states.  As we have done since the beginning of the pandemic, we have continued to advocate that the President use his authority under the Defense Production Act to ensure an adequate supply of everything we need to meet the challenge of this global pandemic. 

Personally, I am hopeful that our country’s pandemic response is poised to turn the corner with the announcement of President Biden’s $78 billion COVID-19 plan, which allocates $28 billion for vaccination and $50 billion for testing and investment in the public health workforce.  I am thankful that fighting the COVID-19 pandemic is the Biden administration’s first priority. I believe the focus on increased testing, providing more federal coordination and support to the states, and the intention to invoke the Defense Production Act related to production of vaccines are the among the most critical steps we can take when it comes to the pandemic. 

With Dr. David Kessler set to lead vaccination efforts at the federal level, Biden’s COVID-19 plan is admittedly still missing the nitty-gritty details but the team here at AGS wanted to flag  main things the president has pledged to do in his first 100 days:

  • Increase testing and expand the public health workforce: President Biden’s plan includes expanding COVID testing and expanding our nation’s public health workforce by hiring 100,000 public health workers to engage in vaccine outreach and contact tracing. 

  • Maximize vaccine manufacturing and supply using the Defense Production Act: We were deeply disappointed to learn last week that we do not, in fact, have a national stockpile of vaccines and believe the Biden administration’s intent to expand the DPA to cover the entirety of the manufacturing process will go far in terms of improving vaccine supply given that it covers production of the vaccines themselves. The outgoing administration had invoked the DPA to cover the supplies that are needed to manufacture vaccines.

  • Open up vaccinations to more priority groups: The President is encouraging states to open up vaccination to additional priority tiers more quickly, including expanding vaccine eligibility to anyone age 65 or older. We believe that offering flexibility to move between tiers will prevent vaccine waste and are supportive of this expansion even as we recognize the complications that this introduces given both vaccines are still in short supply.

    In initial planning, the Biden administration had also promised to release almost all doses in the national stockpile, but, as we learned last week,  the stockpile has been depleted.  Because of this, we anticipate that we will see some modifications to this approach as the new vaccine team rolls up its sleeves and gets to work. 

     

  • Establish thousands of new vaccination sites: Biden will instruct the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to set up the first of thousands of new, federally-supported mass vaccination centers at school gyms, sports stadiums, and other convenient and accessible locations, starting with 100 by the end of his first month in office.  We are especially pleased to note that President Biden has pledged to locate centers in Latinx, Black and rural communities -- those hardest hit by the pandemic. The new administration is also making a concerted effort to reach homebound older adults and people with disabilities by deploying mobile clinics in partnership with the community health centers and by collaborating with primary care clinicians who know these patients best.

    To staff centers and clinics administering vaccines, the Biden administration plans to send both FEMA and CDC experts, members of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, military medical personnel, first responders, and retired healthcare workers. As noted above, the federal government will foot the bill for states that dispatch their National Guard forces to pitch in.

  • Work directly with independent and chain pharmacies to increase the pace of vaccination in the community: The plan did not include details as to whether the Biden administration plans to continue to work with chain pharmacies on vaccinating nursing home residents (in October, the prior administration made agreements with CVS and Walgreens to vaccinate residents and staff of long-term care facilities nationwide with no out-of-pocket costs).  The implementation of that effort has had varying success across states, which likely reflects the diversity of nursing homes and other congregate settings as well as the varying capacities of the states. Given the experience that community pharmacies have with flu and other vaccinations, we are hopeful that this effort will go more smoothly.

  • Be transparent with local officials and the public: To support a stronger federal COVID response, the Biden team has promised to communicate clearly with local officials about the national vaccine supply, federal plans, and timing of vaccine distribution. President Biden, as evidenced by the leaders of his vaccine team, has also vowed to restore science’s proper role at the forefront of the nation’s pandemic response and to launch a massive public education campaign to build Americans’ trust in the vaccine.

Biden’s commitment to a new COVID strategy started during a presidential campaign that modeled the CDC’s recommended pandemic mitigation strategies by wearing masks, observing six-feet social distancing rules, and sanitizing podiums between speakers. On the eve of the inauguration, then President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris led a moving national memorial service to mourn the over 400,000 Americans our country has lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, recognizing for the first time that many have lost family members, colleagues, and friends. Today, his first day in office, the President signed executive orders requiring masks and physical distancing on federal property, restoring the unit within the White House’s National Security Council that is focused on global health security and biodefense, and reversing the Trump administration’s move to begin withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO). 

The Biden administration clearly understands the challenges that COVID-19 still presents over the next few months and they know that the plan to get vaccines into the arms of Americans quickly--as President Biden articulated in his speech last week--“will be one of the most challenging operational efforts ever undertaken” by the United States. But he is convinced, as are we, that it can be done.

As we have said throughout this pandemic, our AGS members are our geriatrics superheroes and we are so grateful for all that you have done to care for older adults during what has been a most difficult year.  Our thanks to each and every one of you.

     

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