Biden’s COVID-19 Strategic Plan

The administration released its COVID-19 National Strategic Plan, the goals of which include:

• Restoring trust with the American People
• Mounting a comprehensive vaccination campaign
• Expanding mask mandates, testing, treatment, data, and workforce capacities
• Invoking the Defense Production Act to expand emergency relief
• Safely reopening schools, business, and travel
• Advancing equity
• Restoring U.S. global leadership and preparedness responses to combat future threats

Executive Orders

The administration has signed numerous executive orders in its first three days. Much depends on Congress passing Biden’s previously announced $1.9 trillion COVID stimulus plan.  Executive Orders signed this week include:

• Directing HHS to expand the pool of vaccines,
• Increasing federal reimbursement to states and tribes from 75% to 100% of the cost for National Guard personnel and emergency supplies, like personal protective equipment, cleaning and sanitizing efforts nd opening mass vaccination centers,
• Creating a Pandemic Testing Board, which will aim to increase testing capacity, expand the public health workforce, support COVID-19 screening in schools and ensure access to tests in underserved communities, according to the White House,
• Directing studies to identify COVID-19 treatments and ensure those studies address the needs of diverse populations,
• Creating a COVID-19 response coordinator – who Biden later announced would be Jeff Zients,
• Masking mandates on Federal Property, and
• Reversing the Mexico City Policy  (also referred to as the global gag rule)