Vice President Mike Pence is issuing his own criticism of President-elect Joe Biden after he suggested the Trump administration’s vaccine rollout has been slower than expected.
“Operation Warp Speed is on track to distribute 20 Million doses of Coronavirus Vaccine by next week,” Pence wrote on Twitter on Tuesday evening.
He added, “Millions of Americans have been vaccinated and we are working with States every day to vaccinate millions more. This is no time for playing politics!”
Operation Warp Speed is on track to distribute 20 Million doses of Coronavirus Vaccine by next week. Millions of Americans have been vaccinated and we are working with States every day to vaccinate millions more. This is no time for playing politics!https://t.co/KUKf1Szd0p
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) December 30, 2020
While delivering remarks in Wilmington, Delaware, on Tuesday, Biden said, “The Trump administration’s plan to distribute vaccines is falling behind, far behind. We’re grateful to the companies, the doctors, the scientists, the researchers the clinical trial participants, and Operation Warp Speed for developing the vaccines quickly.”
He continued, “But as I have long feared and warned, the effort to distribute and administer the vaccine is not progressing as it should.”
Biden explained if the distribution continues at this rate, “it’s going to take years, not months, to vaccinate the American people.”
Pence and his wife, Second Lady Karen Pence, received the vaccine publicly earlier this month, as IJR previously reported.
After Biden got vaccinated earlier last week, he said, “The [Trump] administration deserves some credit getting this off the ground, Operation Warp speed.”
Vice president-elect Kamala Harris received the vaccine on Tuesday and thanked frontline workers and scientists for making it possible, as IJR previously reported.
“I trust the scientists and it is the scientists who created and approved this vaccine. So I urge everyone, when it is your turn, get vaccinated. It’s about saving your life, the life of your family members, and the life of your community,” Harris said.
She went on, “Thank you and let’s all just do what we need to do to stay healthy and safe this holiday season and every day of the year.”
Only 2.1 million Americans have been vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).