President-elect Joe Biden speaks about the Coronavirus pandemic, Wilmington, Delaware, December 8, 2020

President-elect Joe Biden pledges to address the Coronavirus pandemic with containment measures and the distribution of 100 million doses of a vaccine in the first 100 days of his Administration.

In contrast, Donald Trump makes a White House appearance to congratulate himself for supposedly overseeing vaccine development, trying to obscure his denial and mismanagement of the crisis.

The statements came as the US death toll reached 286,229, with 2,526 fatalities on Tuesday. Confirmed cases are 15,164,886, an increase of 215,587. Hospitalizations are a record 104,600, with 20,483 patients in intensive care.

All states except Hawaii are in an “Uncontrollable Spread” of the virus.

“We Need Your Help”

Formally introducing his Administration’s health experts, Biden echoed their warnings of “a surge upon a surge”, even as the first vaccinations outside clinical trials were administered in the UK.

“We’re in a very dark winter,” he said. “Things may well get worse before they get better.”

Biden introduced the incoming Health Secretary, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, and announced that the Government’s top Coronavirus expert Dr. Anthony Fauci will be his chief medical advisor. Jeff Zients, who rectified the troubled launch of the ObamaCare site, will lead the Administration’s coordination of efforts.

Vaccinations “into the arms of the American people” would begin with health care professionals, people in long-term care, and educators: “This will be the most efficient mass vaccination plan in US history.”

He set out a mask mandate for Federal buildings, airplanes, and other public places, and coordination with State governments on their measures. He appealed to Americans:

We need your help. Wear a mask for just 100 days. It’s the easiest thing you can do to reduce Covid cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. Help yourself, your family, and your community, whatever your politics or point of view….

It’s not a political statement. It’s a patriotic act.

The President-elect contrasted his Administration’s approach with that of the Trump camp, which spent Tuesday losing a case before the US Supreme Court in Trump’s ongoing attempt to overturn the November 3 election.

In a one-sentence ruling, the Court upheld the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s dismissal of a Trump case challenging Biden’s victory of almost 82,000 votes in the state.

Trump Proclaims His “Greatest Miracle”

Minutes earlier, Trump signed a symbolic executive order mandating that no US vaccines may be exported to other countries until all Americans have had the opportunity of inoculation.

The order has no significance, particularly after the Administration failed to order more than 100 million doses, enough for 50 million Americans, of the vaccine from Pfizer and BionTech. Trump’s officials turned down a Pfizer offer months ago of an additional 100 million to 500 million doses.

See Coronavirus: US Sets Weekly Death Record Amid Possible Limit on Vaccine

Instead, Trump used the event to boast that he had overseen “a monumental national achievement”.

From the instant the coronavirus invaded our shores, we raced into action….

People that aren’t necessarily big fans of Donald Trump are saying whether you like him or not, this is one of the greatest miracles in the history of modern-day medicine or any other medicine, any other age of medicine.

In fact, there was no support from the Administration’s Operation Warp Speed for the Pfizer-BionTech research and development. A second vaccine, from Moderna — with a possible rollout in January — did receive some Administration funding.

As he deployed adjectives like, “incredible”, “amazing”, and “unprecedented”, Trump said nothing about the latest cases and deaths, or of the further escalation before mass distribution of a vaccine.

The University of Washington’s Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation is projecting 538,893 deaths by April 1.

Some in the audience wore masks, a change for White House events; however, there was no social distancing.

On Tuesday, Jenna Ellis was the latest member of the Trump camp to announce a positive test. Her statement came after fellow Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani was hospitalized with the virus.

See also Coronavirus: Another 1,100 Dead as Trump Attorney Giuliani Tests Positive

Trump’s Distortion; Biden’s “Collective Purpose”

Rather than crediting medical and public health experts, whom he has belittled and ostracized throughout the crisis, Trump distorted their words as he claimed credit. A White House video juxtaposed clips of doctors such as Fauci supposedly cautioning against expectations of fast development of a vaccine.

The video took the remarks out of context, failing to note that the experts said any vaccine will not be widely available until the spring — the timetable now envisioned for mass distribution. It did not show Trump promising as March that a vaccine would be available almost immediately, or that his camp blamed Pfizer for withholding news of its vaccine until after the election, to help prevent a Trump second term in office.

When a reporter asked about the message to Americans as they wait for the vaccinations, Trump brushed it off. He briefly referred to “very important guidelines” before declaring, “The vaccine was our goal. That was No. 1 because that was the way it ends.”

In contrast, Biden said:

For families and friends left behind, there’s a gaping hole in your heart that will never be fully healed. As a country, we’ve been living with this pandemic for so long, we’re at risk of becoming numb to its toll on all of us. You know, we’re resigned to feel that there’s nothing we can do, that we can’t trust one another, that we must accept death, pain and sorrow….

Out of our collective pain, we’re going to find collective purpose, to control the pandemic, to save lives and to heal as a nation.