President Trump’s vaccine czar, Moncef Slaoui, on Sunday endorsed President-elect Joe Biden’s plan to ask Americans to wear masks for 100 days after his inauguration, calling it a “good idea.”
CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Slaoui on “State of the Union” about the mask plan the president-elect announced during his interview with the CNN anchor last week.
{mosads}“I think it’s a good idea,” the Operation Warp Speed head said. “It’s never too late. This pandemic is ravaging the country. We all need to take our precaution, have our masks, wash our hands and keep our distance, remain aware that this virus is a killer.”
“We have a vaccine,” he continued. “There is light at the end of the tunnel. But we will not all have the vaccine in our arms before May or June. So we need to be very cautious and vigilant.”
Biden has promoted mask-wearing throughout his campaign but put a timeline on his expected request for the first time Thursday.
“Just 100 days to mask, not forever. 100 days. And I think we’ll see a significant reduction” in COVID-19 infections, Biden said.
The president-elect, who will be inaugurated in January, will not have the authority to institute a national mask mandate. But experts say he could leverage federal funding to pressure states to enact mask mandates.
Top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci also expressed support for Biden’s plan but indicated that Americans may still need to wear masks after the 100-day commitment Biden is advocating.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its coronavirus recommendations to promote the “universal use of face masks in indoor” areas that are outside of one’s home.
Coronavirus cases and hospitalizations have reached new heights in recent days, with almost 228,000 new COVID-19 cases reported on Friday. As of Saturday, 101,190 COVID-19 patients were being treated in hospitals, including 19,950 in intensive care units and 7,005 on ventilators, according to The COVID Tracking Project.
The U.S. recorded more than 1 million new COVID-19 cases in the first five days of December.