December 16, 2020
Opinion
How Will Biden's COVID-19 Task Force
Compare to Trump's?
By Janisse Miles
In January 2021, Joe Biden will be officially declared the 46th President of the United States. This means a new national plan to tackle COVID-19. Shortly after his confirmed win, Biden unveiled his plan for getting the coronavirus under control. Let’s examine what this means for the American people and how this compares to the current president’s procedures.
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Biden intends for his future coronavirus presidential task force to consist entirely of doctors and health experts. The three co-chairs will be former Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, former Food and Drug Administration commissioner David Kessler, and Marcella Nunez-Smith, Associate Dean for Health Equity Research at the Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Anthony Fauci will keep his position as head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
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The Trump administration has its fair share of health experts as well, such as physician Deborah Birx, anesthesiologist Jerome Adams, physician-geneticist Francis Collins, physician/immunologist Dr. Fauci, and physician Stephen Hahn. The difference here is that those are all of the health experts on the Trump administration's task force. There are 27 people on that force. Who makes up the rest? Trump’s team consists mostly of government officials (8) and politicians (7). The health experts are the third most occurring occupation, tied with lawyers (5 each). This leaves us with 4 businessmen, 3 scientists, and a journalist.
With Biden’s full team revealed, though there are fewer people on his team, there are far more health experts (10). There’s one less scientist than Trump’s team (2) and only one government official. But are the lack of lawyers and businessmen truly beneficial? After all, there are business and political aspects of the coronavirus that do need to be addressed, such as businesses closing down and many Americans who still, to this day, have never received a stimulus check. Is it against better judgment to gather a team with no economic expert? Perhaps that's a conversation to develop as we go further into the 2021 presidency. However, Trump's chosen team hasn't made the option look very tantalizing.
Biden's covid task force (bottom) will have twice as many health experts as Trump's current team (top). Janisse Miles/meta-chart.com
Alex Azar, Secretary of Health and Human Services, is known to be a pharmaceutical lobbyist, meaning he is in favor of the price gouging of pharmaceutical medicine and items, essentially putting life-saving medicine behind a massive paywall. With this in mind, what would stop lobbyists like Azar, who now have their pulse on the White House, from ramping up the vaccine out of the middle-class tax bracket, causing even more lower-class citizens to die from Covid, the same way lobbyists have caused many diabetics to die from rationing or going without insulin because they can’t afford it?
Ben Carson, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (who has no prior experience in housing nor urban development), immediately sought to end programs that assist low-income Americans with housing and food, and to remove protections from transgender Americans (successfully), and immigrants (unsuccessfully) that seek housing. Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of Treasury, in the face of mass unemployment and several thousand struggling businesses, plans to end the CARES act that is currently keeping small businesses afloat, which in turn could tank the economy by the time his last days in office come around. Not to mention the many others with few qualifications for their positions aside from an undying loyalty to Donald Trump. Though economic and political aspects are important factors to consider in handling the virus, none are as important as the health of the very public the government is supposed to be serving. And judging by the actions of too many of the White House task force members, this message is one that’s lost.
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Let’s talk about distribution. Biden has stated that “the advisory board will help shape my approach to managing the surge in reported infections; ensuring vaccines are safe, effective, and distributed efficiently, equitably, and free; and protecting at-risk populations.” This contrasts greatly with Trump's distribution plan, given that his plan is essentially non-existent. Since there’s an empty space where Trump’s covid planning should be, there is plenty of room to speculate. Going back to Azar, it’s not a wild concept to assume “free” wouldn’t be an option when introduced to what will become the most sought-after vaccine of our time. There would be too much potential to profit off the medicine to trust the Trump administration to play fair amongst classes.
As far as efficient distribution goes, we can say with certainty this is something the current administration consistently fails in. In late September 2020, it was revealed that the Pentagon had taken money dedicated to providing overworked and overcrowded hospitals with personal protective equipment (PPE) and spent it on the military. At that time, it was also widely recorded that millions of Americans still hadn’t received a stimulus check, even though the checks were supposed to be distributed throughout the month of April. With what we know of the Trump administration, we can assume that in a second Trump term, the idea of equitability for vaccination distribution would be out the window. His covid task force is not a combination of people that would have an equal and impartial plan in mind. Protective wear and vaccines would be given to those who could afford it, leaving the majority by the wayside.
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Biden also wants a focus on political unity in his covid relief plan. The Washington Post stated that “Biden plans to call Republican and Democratic governors to ask for their help in developing a consistent message from federal and state leaders.” As many Americans concerned with the great divide of pandemic protocols have stated, masks should not be a political issue. Unfortunately, that is exactly what the conversation has devolved into, due to the negligence of the White House. It’s no secret that Donald Trump has a strong following of supporters, who follow suit when Trump refuses to wear a mask and downplays the virus constantly, creating an “Us vs. Them” dynamic, or even a “Red vs. Blue” dynamic. With the unification of parties, there must be an effort to destigmatize the procedures to the most obedient Trump supporters, which would be the real challenge. So far, it seems as though President-elect Biden has a more fleshed out plan coming into office than Donald Trump has coming out. While the blueprint sounds promising to hopeful Americans everywhere, we can only hope the next administration excels where the current administration failed.