US election: Joe Biden backs Covid vow with new task force

US President-elect Joe Biden has named the members of his coronavirus task force, highlighting his pledge to make tackling Covid-19 his top priority.

Mr Biden said one of his “most important battles” was to manage the surge in cases and bring a safe and viable vaccine to the people.

He is also forging ahead on transition issues from climate change to migrants.

But President Trump still refuses to concede and is backing legal challenges to results in several key states.

Mr Biden’s victory was declared on Saturday but it remains a projection, with a number of states still counting votes. The nationwide difference in votes for the two candidates is about 4.5 million.

Mr Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris have launched a website for the transition, saying the team will also focus on the economy and tackling racism.

But the president-elect will need the help of an agency called the General Services Administration to begin the transition process and its Trump-appointed head has given no indication when that will happen,

What are the Covid plans?
On Monday, Mr Biden set out the blueprints for his Transition Covid-19 Advisory Board.

In his first appointments since his victory was announced, he named three co-chairs and 10 members. Among the co-chairs named is Vivek Murthy, who was appointed US surgeon-general by President Barack Obama in 2014 and removed by President Trump in 2017.

One member is immunologist Rick Bright, who says he was ignored and then removed by the Trump administration over his early warnings on Covid.

In a statement, Mr Biden said the board would help to get the virus under control, deliver relief for working families, address racial disparities and work to reopen schools and businesses.

He also said it would “elevate the voices of scientists and public health experts”. President Trump’s comments on Covid-19 have often conflicted with scientists, including leading infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci.

Mr Biden on Monday also welcomed the news from Pfizer and BioNTech that preliminary analysis showed their vaccine in development could prevent more than 90% of people from getting Covid-19.

He thanked the “brilliant women and men who helped produce this breakthrough and to give us such cause for hope” but also warned it was “important to understand that the end of the battle against Covid-19 is still months away”.

The focus of his policy will be on mask wearing, social distancing, contact tracing and hand washing.

Covid cases in the US since the epidemic began are nearing 10 million, and there have been more than 237,000 deaths recorded so far, Johns Hopkins research shows.

Donald Trump also welcomed the vaccine statement, tweeting that it was “such great news”.

What are the other transition plans?
They reportedly include a slew of executive orders – written orders issued by the president to the federal government that do not require congressional approval – aimed at reversing controversial Trump policies. They are in draft form and cannot be issued until he takes office. According to US media:

Mr Biden will rejoin the Paris climate agreement, which the US officially left on Wednesday
He will reverse the decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization
He will end the travel ban on citizens from seven mostly Muslim countries
He will reinstate an Obama-era policy of granting immigration status to undocumented migrants who entered the US as children

BBC