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Stories and information in our region on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Blumenthal: Delay In Presidential Transition Endangers Vaccine Distribution

Covid-19 Vaccine
Ted S. Warren
/
AP

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said the delayed transition of power to President-Elect Joe Biden could also delay the distribution of coronavirus vaccines.

Blumenthal said FDA-approved vaccines are only useful if they can be administered to people. He said politics shouldn’t get in the way.

“This transition has to be expedited. The Biden team must have access to the planning tools it needs to make distribution be more widely effective,” Blumenthal said.

The Trump administration has refused to begin the transition of power to the Biden team.

Blumenthal said the federal government should help boost production of shipping materials needed for cold-transport. Senate Republicans have not called up for a vote a $10 billion dollar relief act that would support vaccine distribution.

Cassandra Basler, a former senior editor at WSHU, came to the station by way of Columbia Journalism School in New York City. When she's not reporting on wealth and poverty, she's writing about food and family.