How Biden’s Plan to “Beat” COVID-19 Compares to Trump’s Previous Strategy
January 2021 | Edgar Nicolas Garcia, Staff Writer/Editor
From issuing a nationwide mask mandate to investing $25 billion in vaccine manufacturing and distribution, President Biden’s plan to mitigate the crisis of the novel Coronavirus pandemic appears to make the federal government more active, or intrusive, compared to his predecessor Donald Trump’s approach. The new presidency strives to undo what they deem as Trump’s shortcomings when handling the pandemic. Altogether, the Biden strategy to beat COVID-19 revolves around seven distinct points to get the United States back on its feet. The plan displays intuitive strengths of diverting attention and resources to aid minority communities, uniting the nation under a single course of action, and increasing funding for future vaccines. Nonetheless, it also bears potential weaknesses as it lacks specificity and appears to hold some false promises.
On one hand, Trump’s strategy in the face of COVID-19 was predominately based on a mix of laissez-faire tactics and constant contradictions as the pandemic ran its course. Despite enacting travel bans during the initial spike of the pandemic, Trump mainly downplayed the severity of the virus while regularly ignoring scientific evidence.[1] This left many state and local governments with tremendous discretion in how they handled the spread of the virus. Some governors would mandate the use of masks in public or would enact a state lockdown, while others would not impose any government restrictions to prevent the spread of the virus. However, these differing approaches were also very divisive to the country, as many Americans living in various jurisdictions had different experiences and outlooks towards the pandemic. One thing is for certain: the lame-duck presidency relied on deploying a vaccine by the end of 2020 and planned to have millions of doses in the months that followed. Under Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration invested about $18 billion to focus on a medical solution.[2] Currently, according to the CDC, there will be multiple phases signed for the distribution of the vaccine. For starters, there is Phase 1a which covers frontline healthcare workers and long-term care facility staff and residents as the priority to receive the initial doses.[3] Then there is Phase 1b for frontline essential workers, such as firefighters and police officers, and persons over 75 years old. Next, there is Phase 1c with all other essential workers from transportation, construction, public health, and many more. Nevertheless, the demand for the vaccine exceeds supply. At the time of the publication of this paper, there are about 400 million vaccines ordered from Pfizer and Moderna for distribution.[4] Both vaccines authorized by the Food and Drug Administration are only enough for 200 million Americans as they require two doses per person. This falls short of the U.S. population of about 329 million.
On the other hand, Biden’s plan to combat the Coronavirus is laid out in seven points, encompassing different solutions to very different problems. To begin with, he wants to improve the access to regular and reliable testing by investing in future examination advancements and doubling the number of drive-through test sites.[5] Biden also wants to establish a Pandemic Testing Board that can produce and distribute a vast number of tests. Right off the bat, this plan increases the testing and contact tracing of the virus to help understand the scope of the pandemic. It is a sharp contrast to Trump’s strategy, where his administration once recommended the CDC to limit the number of testing to lower the overall number of COVID-19 cases in the country. Likewise, Biden’s plan involves resolutions to the issues around access to personal protective equipment (PPE). In the past, many states and cities were left to fend for themselves when it comes to providing PPE to their populace. However, the new administration aims to utilize the Defense Production Act, the primary action by the president to expedite and expand the supply of materials and services, to drastically enhance the production of masks, face shields, and other PPE while focusing on keeping manufacturing within the U.S. This bolsters the supply of PPE to potentially exceed the demand, which inevitably lowers the cost to Americans. Withal, the upcoming presidency intends to provide resources to aid communities and small businesses, helping them get back on their feet. Primarily, Biden wants Congress to pass an emergency package to provide additional funding to schools in order to adapt to the dangers of COVID-19. At the same time, small businesses can benefit from a “restart package” which helps cover the costs of requirements such as plexiglass and PPE so they can operate safely. The new federal initiatives can lend a hand to Americans impacted by current invasive guidelines that dramatically affect the operations of communities.
Additionally, there are several intuitive strengths to the Biden plan in regards to diverting more attention in aiding minorities, uniting the country towards a common course of action, and increasing investments in fighting the coronavirus. Particularly, Biden has planned to create a Racial and Ethnic Disparities Task Force, meant to address the minority communities disproportionately affected by the coronavirus.[6] Under the Trump administration, there were no efforts in alleviating the unequal rates and deaths faced by African-Americans and Latinos. After relief is provided and the crisis is mitigated, Biden wants to transition the Racial and Ethnic Disparities Task Force to a permanent Infectious Disease Racial Disparities Task Force. Also, Biden plans to work with state governors and mayors to implement a nationwide mask mandate to limit the spread of the virus. In contrast to the previous administration’s rhetoric of leaving it up to state and local authorities, Biden wants to set a single guideline for all Americans to follow. On the campaign trail, Biden emphasized that if 95% of Americans wear masks, almost 70,000 lives could be saved.[7] Lastly, the Biden presidency has cited a $25 billion price figure for vaccine manufacturing and distribution so every American is guaranteed their doses for free. This initiative ensures that the supply will meet the demand while dwarfing the mere $18 billion in vaccine investments made by Trump.
Nevertheless, Biden’s plan, though broad and extensive, appears to lack in detail with some points of their strategy while blatantly carrying false promises in others. For example, in regards to PPE distribution, the plan states that it will “ensure everyone — not just the wealthy and well-connected — in America receives the protection and care they deserve, and consumers are not price gouged as new drugs and therapies come to market.”[8] Yet, this gambit also raises questions from its lack of specificity. Who is going to ensure that patients are not being price gouged? Is there going to be a task force assigned to do this job? Will there be citations or injunctions against PPE suppliers if they are caught price gouging? The new administration needs to provide answers to these gaps in their strategy. Moreover, in the subject of utilizing the Defense Production Act to increase the supply of PPE, Biden promises to protect American manufacturing. However, it is very unlikely that the businesses will only order PPE from American companies, as many small businesses can opt-in to get their PPE from foreign countries at potentially lower costs. It appears that the point Biden is trying to make is simply a false promise to defend American manufacturing, especially as private businesses have their own discretion independent from the government’s control.
In conclusion, Biden’s strategy bolsters the scope and reach of the federal government to beat the COVID-19 pandemic. On one hand, the Trump administration left states and local governments to fend for themselves and put the majority of their efforts into investing in viable vaccines. While on the other, the Biden presidency details seven distinct points to get the country back to normalcy under a much stronger government. Overall, Trump’s plan was constantly filled with criticism and doubt, but Biden will be most likely to be confronted with similar resistance from his opponents. Only time will tell whether or not the new administration will live up to its promises or make the same mistakes as its predecessor in the face of the novel Coronavirus pandemic.
Sources
Summers, Juana. “Timeline: How Trump Has Downplayed The Coronavirus Pandemic,” October 2, 2020.
“Trump Administration Dips Into Protective Gear.” Bloomberg, September 23, 2020.
“Evidence Table for COVID-19 Vaccines Allocation in Phases 1b and 1c of the Vaccination Program.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. December 22, 2020.
McDonnell, Tim. “How Many Pfizer and Moderna Vaccines Did the US Buy and When Will They Arrive?” Quartz. December 23, 2020.
“COVID Timeline,” October 21, 2020.
Moore, Elena. “Trump's And Biden's Plans On The Coronavirus Pandemic,” October 16, 2020.
“COVID Timeline,” October 21, 2020.
Ibid.