Dr. Rick Bright, a member of President-elect Joe Biden’s coronavirus task force, is predicting a delayed vaccine distribution if the incoming administration is unable to meet with President Donald Trump’s administration.
During Wednesday’s appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Bright mentioned Biden’s promise to distribute a COVID-19 vaccine and other therapeutics in an “equitable manner.”
He stressed, in order to do that, it is “absolutely critical” the transition team meets with the Trump administration to discuss the “protocols of the trials, to be able to discuss the technical aspects of the vaccine, and the rollout, and the distribution campaigns.”
Bright added, “We have been held at an arm’s pace. We have no insight to the plans from this current administration. We do not even have direct access to the data.”
Watch his comments below:
He continued, “So the GSA delay of the ascertainment of this election is causing significant delays with this critical time point in the data and the vaccine availability.”
Co-host Mika Brzezinski pressed Bright on whether the Trump administration’s decision not to cooperate will delay equitable distribution of the vaccine.
Bright replied, “It very likely can.”
Three leading healthcare organizations implored Trump to provide Biden with COVID-19 data, as IJR previously reported.
“Real-time data and information on the supply of therapeutics, testing supplies, personal protective equipment, ventilators, hospital bed capacity and workforce availability to plan for further deployment of the nation’s assets needs to be shared to save countless lives,” leaders of the of the American Medical Association, the American Nurses Association and the American Hospitals Association, wrote in a letter.
According to Dr. Vivek Murthy, another member of Biden’s coronavirus task force, his officials have not spoken to Trump administration officials about COVD-19.
Despite the president’s refusal to concede the election, Biden is moving forward with establishing his senior staff.