White House goes with openness on virus updates

US President Joe Biden's top COVID-19 advisers held their first public briefing on Wednesday on the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic, as he pledged to be more transparent about the administration's response.

The briefing addressed the current COVID-19 situation and vaccine-distribution problems. It was the first formal White House briefing on the pandemic since Nov 19.

The tone of the briefing was in line with Biden's promise to be straight with the nation about the state of the outbreak that has already claimed more than 425,000 lives in the US.

The administration said it will hold briefings three times a week to explain its efforts. The next briefing was expected on Friday.

"The president strongly believes that the scientists who are leading the effort should communicate directly to the American people," said Biden's COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients, who ran the briefing.

Zients, an entrepreneur and former official in the Obama administration, repeated that the federal government no longer has a stockpile of vaccines to distribute. He said the Biden administration was examining additional ways to accelerate vaccine production.

His comments came after Biden announced on Tuesday that he plans to speed up the weekly supply of COVID-19 vaccines to states and territories in the coming weeks. The president said he also plans to deliver enough doses for 300 million people by the end of the summer.

"Most states are getting better at putting needles in arms," said Zients, who pleaded with Congress to swiftly pass a $1.9 trillion stimulus plan proposed by Biden.

The bill includes $160 billion for a national vaccine program and a $20 billion national program to establish community vaccination centers across the nation and send mobile units to remote communities for vaccine distribution.

Zients said the Department of Health and Human Services would recruit retired doctors and nurses to administer vaccines and ease regulations to allow them to do so in states other than where they were licensed.

Supply shortages

He said the federal government still faces a shortage of personal protective gear and other essential supplies unless Congress quickly passes the virus relief bill.

During the briefing, Rochelle Walensky, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the agency's forecast now projects there will be 479,000 to 514,000 deaths from the disease by Feb 20.

Walensky said a new variant of the coronavirus first detected in the UK has now been found in 26 states. Another variant first identified in South Africa has not been identified in the US.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the president's chief medical adviser, said the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are "well within the cushion of protection" for the variants. The UK variant has a slight impact on vaccines, but the South Africa one has shown some resistance to antibodies.

Agencies contributed to this story.