(Image Above) Joe Biden giving his Thanksgiving Speech," the US is at war with the virus, not each other"
On Saturday November 28th, President-Elect Joe Biden announced that he will be adding new members to his COVID-19 Advisory Board/Task Force. The new additions to the task force will include Dr. Jill Jim who is the executive director of the Navajo Nation's department of health, Jane Hopkins, who is a Sierra Leone immigrant, a bedside nurse for 20 years, and a long time union worker, and Dr. David Michaels, who is a epidemiologist(basically a medical expert) at George Washington University. Their main job in the task force is to help contain and control the virus, as well as save as many American lives as possible.
Biden deciding to chose these three individuals for his COVID task force demonstrates his immediate desire to prevent the spread of the pandemic while bringing more diversity into the government workforce. Biden has been clear that one of his main goals as president would be to help save American lives by assembling a team to control the deadly virus that has held us in lockdown for nearly a year now.
This task force plans to tackle the pandemic by providing more testing availability and preparing to quickly distribute a vaccine once it is released. This task force has been expanded in part due to the rapid increase in cases that began in early November. Biden has been assembling this COVID task force since earlier this month, when he was announced as the President-Elect by most of the media outlets.
It is too early to say whether this task force will be successful or not, however the task force shows promise as it includes many top medical workers who seem dedicated to the job. This task force still has a few months before it can really start to make an impact, so as the cases of COVID continue to rise, it is important that we wear masks and keep a distance from others, as well as follow all health guidelines as directed by the CDC.
Sources:
7 comments:
Glad to see Biden taking constructive criticism from the public, unlike the POTUS currently in power. Spreading the diversity within his task force is just one step to making significant changes to the government, and hopefully in January we will continue to see steps taken in this same direction. But will Trump do something so irrational before the inauguration date?
As cases are rapidly increasing and people begin to experience tighter restrictions again, I think it is important to note the value of 1. having effective guidelines in place but also 2. having these be based on reliable information that comes from experts. Many have been pushing for the government to be more effective in preventing the spread of the virus, and that starts with having people who can accurately influence what gets done. We know that Trump decided not did use a pandemic response team to his, and the country's, advantage. No one should expect politicians or government officials to understand all the implications of a new disease because that is the job of specific scientists and experts in medical fields. So to benefit the country while having accurate public health measures in mind, both government and pandemic experts have to work together. So Biden's COVID-19 Task Force is a necessary step in the right direction.
As described by the backgrounds of each new addition to Biden's coronavirus task force in your blog post, it seems clear that he is beginning to respond to the public by recruiting a more diverse cabinet, all from different walks of life. This is essential, as a more diverse cabinet would better represent the needs of the country as the whole. "The Hill" argues that the task force is in need of more social scientists, who specialize in the cultural, social, and economic aspects of this pandemic, and can aid in the distribution of the vaccine if/when it happens. This article claims that it will bridge the gap between his task force of scientific leaders and the general public, generating trust amongst citizens as the amount of false information and conspiracy theories circulating the Internet & social media begin to skyrocket. Biden's task force must find itself reaching all communities of the United States, ensuring that their response to the pandemic is safe and in the best interest of the people.
https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/healthcare/527120-the-missing-link-of-bidens-covid-strategy-social-scientists
It is great to see Biden taking action right away when it comes to the coronavirus. Biden is being very responsible when it comes to the virus, and it is clear that he cares about the health of the people living in the U.S. While hiring his team, it is great to see that Biden thought about the diversity as he hired people that are from different backgrounds. As of now, Biden is doing everything in his power to solve the pandemic, and I am hoping him and his team will be able to find ways to help lower the spread/cases. Biden’s Covid-19 task force is heading towards the right direction, and hopefully will be successful within the next couple of months.
It’s honestly really interesting seeing the comparison and contrasts between Trump’s task force and Biden’s coronavirus advisory board as highlighted in the 2nd article. I’m all for diversity being demonstrated alongside actual credentials and these are promising steps towards a healthier future. The thing I worry about is I feel it doesn’t matter who is in control or spear heading virus control efforts. There will always be people who’ll act, to put it bluntly, dumb and reckless and work against the government no matter how hard they try to keep things under control. So as a consequence, I feel that the only thing that matters in the end is getting a vaccine asap, which is looking promising (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/science/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker.html), as it’s the main and probably only tool to combat the rashness of some people. Now what I don’t hope to see after witnessing months of anti mask support is that instead, the anti vaxxers take the reins of being the nuisance working against the government. I feel to some degree, it’ll always be a lose lose situation but only time can tell. Until then, stay strong everyone and as long as everyone does their part, things will get better somewhat, but not completely fixed.
A bit late, but I think that Pritish takes a very practical approach towards considering what the coronavirus task force actually means... I agree with the fact that there is no avoiding people who will not follow coronavirus regulations, but I think there is a way to temporarily help before vaccination. Biden recently reinstated Dr. Fauci into the Coronavirus Task Force, which I think is extremely important because of his high publicity throughout the past year. With Trump both supporting and attacking Dr. Fauci, many people didn't know what to believe in regards to being safe with the Coronavirus. Having Fauci supported by our upcoming president is important because he will both find it easier to maintain publicity and a voice in hearings, and the people will find less of a disconnect between scientists and politicians.
I definitely agree with Pritish regarding people following/not following guidelines no matter how many are enforced or by who. It's quite sad that the virus and taking necessary precautions has become a political issue when it should just be common sense. I do worry that people won't follow the guidelines that Biden's team puts in place, but he already seems to be a lot more prepared and ready to face the issue head-on than Trump has been. I like the diversity and representation in his corona task force, it seems promising especially since he's taking into consideration a multitude of backgrounds and perspectives. I think that even if there are people that don't follow the rules, Biden's team will still be helpful and effective in managing vaccine distribution as well as working to enforce new guidelines the best that he can. I am pretty worried still though about anti-vaxxers and the effect they'll have on people getting the vaccine. It's crazy that this even has to be considered at all, but I sincerely hope that people listen to the professionals and take the vaccine. Vaccines are most successful in herd-immunity situations and I fear we'll be stuck in this pandemic eve longer if enough people refuse vaccinations.
Post a Comment