PRESIDENT BIDEN’S 100 DAY MASK-UP INITIATIVE
Joe Biden wasted no time issuing fresh executive orders and initiatives aimed at stopping the coronavirus pandemic on his first full day in office. He signed his first executive order on Wednesday which requires everyone on federal land or property, including office buildings, to wear masks and to practice social distancing. The order applies to visitors, federal employees, and federal contractors.
“This executive action will direct the agencies to take action to require compliance with CDC guidance on mask-wearing and physical distancing in federal buildings, on federal lands, and by federal employees and contractors,” Jeff Zients, who will be the Biden administration’s COVID-19 response coordinator, told CNN.
“And the president will call on governors, public health officials, mayors, business leaders, and others to implement masking, physical distancing, and other public measures to control COVID-19,” he said.
Other orders signed by Biden included that states and territories be reimbursed for 100% of the cost of having the National Guard help with testing and vaccine deployment and the development of a COVID-19 Pandemic Testing Board with the goals of greatly increasing the number of COVID-19 tests done daily, manufacturing more tests and supplies in the U.S. He encouraged large-scale randomized trials to find new treatments for COVID-19, and to outline ways to improve treatment now.
These new orders follow Biden’s moves Tuesday to launch his “100 Days Masking Challenge.” He set a goal of vaccinating 100 million people in the first 100 days of his term. He asked the American people to do their part and mask up to reduce the spread of the disease. He ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to create federally supported community vaccination centers, with the goal of opening 100 in the next month.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that masks “are a critical tool in the fight against COVID-19 that could reduce the spread of the disease.” Biden also ordered the CDC to launch a federal pharmacy program to make vaccines available in local drugstores in February.
