US President Joe Biden signs a series of orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, after being sworn in at the US Capitol on January 20, 2021. - US President Joe Biden signed a raft of executive orders to launch his administration, including a decision to rejoin the Paris climate accord. The orders were aimed at reversing decisions by his predecessor, reversing the process of leaving the World Health Organization, ending the ban on entries from mostly Muslim-majority countries, bolstering environmental protections and strengthening the fight against Covid-19.
On day 2, Biden focused on COVID-19 strategy with 10 executive actions
President Biden laid out his approach to the pandemic before he took office.
By Ayesha Rascoe and Alana Wise/NPR
Jim Watson / Getty Images
US President Joe Biden signs a series of orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, after being sworn in at the US Capitol on January 20, 2021. - US President Joe Biden signed a raft of executive orders to launch his administration, including a decision to rejoin the Paris climate accord. The orders were aimed at reversing decisions by his predecessor, reversing the process of leaving the World Health Organization, ending the ban on entries from mostly Muslim-majority countries, bolstering environmental protections and strengthening the fight against Covid-19.
(Washington) — President Biden signed a series of orders and directives on his second day in office to take charge of stopping the spread of the coronavirus — steps that he andhis advisers say will start to boost testing, vaccinations, supplies and treatments.
“While the vaccine provides so much hope, the rollout has been a dismal failure thus far. So I understand the despair and frustration of so many Americans and how they’re feeling,” Biden said in remarks shortly before signing the stack of executive actions.
“We didn’t get into this mess overnight, and it’s going to take months for us to turn things around. But let me be equally clear: We will get through this. We will defeat this pandemic. And to a nation waiting for action, let me be clearest on this point: Help is on the way.”
The presidentis also pushing Congress for another $1.9 trillion in relief, a package that would include direct payments to Americans, support for small businesses and a huge boost in funding for vaccines and testing.
The pandemic relief effort is a means to advance the strategy his team has developed, starting with the 10 executive orders and directives, his COVID-19 response coordinator, Jeff Zients, told reporters.
“Last week you heard the president lay out his vaccine strategy,” Zients said, adding that on Thursday, Biden will advance “the road map to guide America out of this public health crisis.”
One of the orders directs agencies to use the Defense Production Act to address critical shortfalls in 12 categories of items needed for testing, treating and vaccinating people for COVID-19 — vaccines, N95 masks, gowns, gloves, test supplies and kits, lab analysis machines, therapeutic drugs and other supplies — and will work to spur production of the items in the United States.
“This is a wartime undertaking,” Biden said on Thursday.
“We’re in a national emergency, and it’s time we treated it like one.”
Biden also signed a memo to direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency to fully reimburse states for vaccination and testing supplies and for the costs of National Guard deployments associated with the pandemic. Biden plans to establish the COVID-19 Pandemic Testing Board to boost testing.
Other orders and directives are to:
require masks on planes and buses and in airports, as well as require travelers to show a negative coronavirus test before flying to the United States
direct more studies and trials of COVID-19 treatments
mandate more public data on cases and vaccinations
offer more guidance to schools on reopening
direct the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to provide guidance for workplaces
establish a COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force to make recommendations on ensuring that underserved communities hurt worst by the pandemic are treated more fairly
Biden also plans to support the global response to the pandemic and will join the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) Facility and other multilateral initiatives.
A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.