WASHINGTON – President-elect Joe Biden’s transitional group was briefed on America’s response to the Covid-19 epidemic, health and human resources secretary Alex Azar told reporters on Tuesday.
Azar said Monday night Erica Schwartz, the transition planning officer, briefed Biden’s team on Operation Warp Speed, which aims to release the coronavirus vaccine in record time.
“We will receive all the pre-prepared interim information materials immediately,” Azar said.
“We will provide them with coordinated briefings to ensure they receive whatever information they think they need,” Azar said, adding that “planning and implementing the transition will be professional, collaborative and cooperative.”
The Biden transition team did not respond immediately to CNBC’s comments.
With the move following the U.S. presidential election, the official transfer of power between President Donald Trump and the Biden government is delayed by weeks. Trump did not allow Biden the election.
The United States is struggling with a dramatic resurgence of coronavirus cases as the big holidays approach. According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, the nation has registered at least 257,991 Covid-19-related deaths to date.
The Trump administration was criticized for failing to control the spread of the deadly disease.
Last week, Pfizer and its partner, BioNTech, applied to the Food and Drug Administration for emergency approval for their Covid-19 vaccine. The FDA process is expected to take several weeks, and an advisory committee meeting is scheduled for early December to review the vaccine.
Pfizer announced on July 22 that the United States has agreed to purchase 100 million doses of the vaccine for up to $ 1.95 billion. The agreement, part of Operation Warp Speed, will allow the United States to procure an additional 500 million doses of the vaccine.
