‘It will take us 10 years’

Screenshot / Twitter

The Trump Administration has garnered plenty of criticism for the “diffusion of responsibility” when it comes to the handling of the vaccine. In a recent CNN interview, Dr. Wen did a quick calculation of the time it would take to get 80% of Americans vaccinated at the current pace: 10 years.

Here’s the math: If the goal is to reach 80% of Americans vaccinated with a 2-dose #covid19 vaccine, it will take 10 years at our current pace. We are at 1 million vaccinations a week. To get to herd immunity by June 2021, we need to be at 3.5 million vaccinations a day. pic.twitter.com/E78e0xg10z

— Leana Wen, M.D. (@DrLeanaWen) December 29, 2020

Operation Warp Speed’s chief communications officer Michael Pratt is insistent that things are right on schedule. Pratt said, “Operation Warp Speed remains on track to have approximately 40 million doses of vaccine and allocate 20 million doses for first vaccinations by the end of December 2020, with distribution of the 20 million first doses spanning into the first week of January as states place orders for them.”

Biden criticizes distribution efforts

Wikimedia

In a speech on Tuesday, President-elect Joe Biden criticized the Trump administration’s efforts.

As I long feared and warned, the effort to distribute and administer the vaccine is not progressing as it should.

Biden warns that it will be the nation’s “greatest operational challenge”, and he has plans to get 50 million people vaccinated in his first 100 days. However, he admits that “it will take more time than anyone would like” and that the needed effort is “not yet underway.”

Meanwhile, Trump is shifting blame to the states:

It is up to the States to distribute the vaccines once brought to the designated areas by the Federal Government. We have not only developed the vaccines, including putting up money to move the process along quickly, but gotten them to the states. Biden failed with Swine Flu!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 29, 2020

Twitter pushes back

Flickr / The White House

As the death toll continues to rise, Trump is busy spending his last days in office on the golf course instead of working to facilitate the vaccine rollout. People are already calling him out for botching vaccination efforts — just like he screwed up everything else…

Not too soon to call it. Trump completely botched the vaccine roll out/distribution plan - the only part of the vaccine effort he and his team had any real control or impact on. It's not even a botched plan. They just didn't make a plan. Now Biden will have to clean up the mess.

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) December 29, 2020

Shirking all responsibility until the bitter end.

— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) December 29, 2020

Trump’s failing to get us vaccinated just like he failed to get us tested

Good governance relies on management

Trump’s possessing of so many disturbing flaws that his poor administrative skills get overlooked—but those critical incompetences are contributing to avoidable deaths

— NotATweeter16 (@NotATweeter16) December 29, 2020