Washington: US President-elect Joe Biden said on Thursday that he will ask Americans to wear masks for the first 100 days after he takes office in January.
“Just 100 days to mask, not forever. One hundred days. And I think we’ll see a significant reduction,” Biden said in an interview to CNN’s Jake Tapper, reflecting how his approach to the coronavirus crisis will be totally different from President Donald Trump’s response to the pandemic.
Biden revealed that he has asked Dr Anthony Fauci, a key member of Trump’s coronavirus task force, to continue after his administration takes charge next month.
“I asked him to stay in the exact same role he’s had for the past several presidents, and I asked him to be a chief medical adviser for me as well, and be part of the COVID team,” Biden said.
The President-elect, who won the election with a record number of votes, said he will be “happy” to get a coronavirus vaccine once Fauci says it is safe. He also stated that he will get the injection publicly to demonstrate his confidence in it.
“That’s the moment in which I will stand before the public and get the vaccine,” he said. “People have lost faith in the ability of the vaccine to work. Already the numbers are really staggeringly low, and it matters what the president and vice-president (Kamala Harris) do.”
