How Biden plans to fight the pandemic: 100 million shots, 100 new vaccine centers, and lots more testing and PPE

The executive order requires masks to be worn on federal land and in federal buildings. The order applies to any federal employee or contractor working in these locations and facilities.

Since Biden does not have the legal authority to require every American to wear a mask, his order instead challenges the public to wear masks for 100 days. He has called on governors, mayors, and public-health officials to support him in the mission.

"This is a patriotic act," Biden said in a speech in Wilmington, Delaware, on January 15. "We're asking you. We're in a war with this virus."

Biden made Jeffrey Zients, who served as the director of the National Economic Council during the Obama administration, his COVID-19 response coordinator.

Zients is now in charge of managing the nation's production and distribution of vaccines, ensuring a consistent supply of medical equipment, and determining travel restrictions, among other tasks. He does not have a medical or scientific background, but Obama-era officials considered Zients an effective problem-solver.

"What has been stunningly lacking over the past year is an organized response," Tom Frieden, a former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Financial Times on Wednesday. "You need someone to be the conductor of the orchestra. They don't need to know how to play every instrument, you just need to know what to do to get the best out of them."

Zients will work closely with David Kessler, a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, who will take over Moncef Slaoui's role as head of US vaccine rollout.

Biden has also restored an Obama-era National Security Council position — directorate for global health security and biodefense — that was dissolved during the Trump administration. In a Tuesday press briefing, Zients said the position would "play a critical role in stopping this pandemic and preventing future biological catastrophes."

The role will be filled by Elizabeth Cameron, a former White House national security official.

In April, President Donald Trump halted US funding for WHO. His administration officially withdrew the US from WHO in July, but the decision takes a year to finalize.

"America's withdrawal from the international arena has impeded progress on the global response and left us more vulnerable to future pandemics," Zients said on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Biden put a stop to the US withdrawal process. He tapped Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to represent the US at WHO's annual meetings this week.

Many hospitals have lacked a steady supply of personal protective equipment since the start of the pandemic. Vaccination sites, meanwhile, worry about future shortages of needles and syringes.

So in an executive order on Thursday, Biden directed federal agencies to use all available legal channels to increase the availability of N95 masks, gowns, gloves, rapid test kits, needles, and syringes, among other supplies. 

He gave agencies permission to invoke the Defense Production Act, which can require businesses to prioritize the federal government's supply-chain needs.

Another executive order on Thursday called on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to fully reimburse states for the use of their National Guards to staff vaccination sites.

The order also promises states reimbursement for emergency supplies, including personal protective equipment for schools and childcare providers.

Masks will now be required on many airplanes, trains, maritime vessels, and intercity buses. Though some forms of public transportation already have a mask requirement, Biden's executive order makes the rule easier to enforce.

Travelers must also present a negative COVID-19 test before departing for the US. The CDC had announced this requirement, which was set to go into effect on January 26, before Biden took office. Travelers from the United Kingdom have been required to present a negative test since late December.

The quarantine rule, however, is new. Biden's executive order does not state how long the quarantine period should last, but the CDC recommends 10 days.

On Thursday, Biden said the measure was implemented "in light of the new COVID variants that we're learning about." New strains detected in the UK and South Africa appear to spread more easily than the original. 

Biden's COVID-19 testing coordinator, Carole Johnson, will oversee the board, which aims to expand the nation's testing capacity. The goal is to double existing test supplies, though Biden's executive order does not give a timeline for that.

Johnson previously served as a senior health policy adviser on the White House Domestic Policy Council in the Obama administration. During that time, she helped lead the national response to the Ebola and Zika epidemics. 

The Trump administration gave states the responsibility to oversee their own vaccine rollouts, but many state health departments have said they lacked sufficient funding and staffing to accelerate vaccinations. Only 17.5 million vaccine doses have been administered so far, though more than double that number had been distributed to states as of Thursday.

Biden last week called the vaccine rollout "a dismal failure." He has promised to enlist both the National Guard and FEMA to help establish vaccination sites across the country, in places like school gyms, sports stadiums, and community centers. Mobile vaccination units are planned for hard-to-reach areas.

"By the end of our first month in office, we will have 100 federally supported centers across the nation that will ultimately vaccinate millions of people," Biden said last week. 

Biden has proposed a package he calls the American Rescue Plan, which would include $400 billion to directly address the pandemic.

Of that sum, $20 billion would go to a national vaccination program. Another $50 billion would go to making coronavirus tests more widely available; that includes purchasing more rapid tests and helping schools and local governments administer tests more frequently. 

Additional funds would be invested in new COVID-19 treatments, expanding the US ability to detect and identify new coronavirus strains, and increasing domestic manufacturing of medical supplies or protective gear. Biden also plans to fund 100,000 public-health jobs to assist with contact tracing and administering vaccines.

The Trump administration hoped to vaccinate 20 million people by the end of 2020, but it fell short. Many states have recently reported vaccine shortages, which forced some to cancel vaccine appointments. Still, the speed of vaccinations has accelerated in recent weeks: The US is administering about 800,000 vaccine doses a day, on average.

Biden hopes to quicken this pace by creating more vaccination sites, ramping up the production of vials and syringes, and increasing funding to state and local health departments. In December, he said his short-term goal was to administer 100 million doses in his first 100 days in office. That would require at least 1 million vaccinations a day.

"Some wonder if we're reaching too far for that goal," Biden said last week. "Is it achievable? It's a legitimate question to ask. Let me be clear. I'm convinced we can get it done."

Biden issued an executive order on Thursday that calls on the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services to develop guidance for safe schools reopenings. His proposed coronavirus relief package would give schools $130 billion for this purpose.

If such a package passes, schools could use that money to improve ventilation, reduce class sizes, hire more janitors, distribute personal protective equipment, or modify classroom layouts so students and teachers can socially distance.

Biden also hopes to add $30 billion to FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund, which could help schools expand their testing capacity.

"We can teach our children in safe schools," Biden said on Wednesday. "We can overcome the deadly virus."