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Health officials warn of coming COVID spike
Without doubling down on our efforts to wear face coverings and social distance, experts predict by early February cases in the four-county Tampa Bay region could peak at 18,000 daily new COVID-19 infections.
In a television appearance Thursday night, Democrat Joe Biden praised President Trump for "getting the vaccine moving" as the treatment for fighting the coronavirus began to make its way across the U.S.
"I think what he’s done, getting the vaccine moving, has been positive," Biden told host Stephen Colbert during an appearance on "The Late Show."
Biden’s remarks came less than a week after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration formally granted emergency approval for Pfizer and BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine, clearing the way for it to be distributed nationwide.
Just days later, the first doses of the vaccine were being injected into the arms of health care workers and people at high risk – with broader distribution, at no charge for recipients, planned in the weeks and months ahead.
In a video released soon after the FDA’s green light, President Trump hailed the development of the vaccine as a "medical miracle," noting the job had been done in just nine months – with help from millions of dollars invested by the federal government.
Then on Thursday, an FDA advisory panel unanimously recommended a second vaccine, this one developed by Moderna. The endorsement meant approval by the FDA would likely be coming soon.
During his conversation with Colbert, Biden spoke about the enormity of the effort involved in getting vaccines developed and distributed.
"It's one thing to get the vaccine delivered to X number of spots around the country," Biden said. "It's a very different thing to get the vaccine out of that tube, into a syringe, into somebody's arm. The vaccination -- that is a monumental task and is probably the single most significant effort to take place in the United States, to distribute something around the world, around the country."
Biden added that he planned to ask Trump to approve more funding for vaccinations if Congress presents a bill for the president’s signature.
"We're going to need more vaccine. We're going to need more money," Biden told Colbert. "We're going to need more to be able to get this distributed. But it's underway. And I believe we can get one. I think we can get 100 million vaccinations taking place. That's and some of the vaccinations, you know, require two different shots, two different times. I know. And one of the things I'm pleading with the president to do now is order more of it. "
The vaccine discussion was part of a broader conversation between Biden and Colbert, in which Biden’s wife, Dr. Jill Biden, also participated. The conversation also addressed the investigation into son Hunter Biden’s tax issues and well as the recent debate over Jill Biden’s use of the title "Dr."
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