WASHINGTON—As the Trump administration formally begins the presidential transition, three weeks after the presidential election, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, this week published an op-ed with NBC News explaining how the Trump administration’s blockade of essential documents related to the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine distribution hampers the incoming Biden administration’s readiness to get control of the pandemic and successfully distribute a vaccine.

“President Donald Trump's refusal to concede and begin the orderly transition of government is not a laughing matter. With the pandemic raging out of control and record numbers of people being diagnosed with Covid-19 each day, a bumpy handoff from one administration to the next will likely get people killed,” Murphy began.

He continued: [W]e’re far from out of the wood yet — because it's entirely possible that Trump's plan is as unworkable as every other plan his team has devised for pandemic response. For instance, nine months into this pandemic, health care providers still don't have enough personal protective equipment, because the president has been unable to put together a plan to produce and distribute enough PPE. What if his plan for vaccine distribution is just as miserable as his plan for PPE production?"

“We've seen firsthand how Trump failed to manage the flow of critical supplies to states in the early days of the pandemic. But duct tape, garbage bags and donation drives won't be able to fix a vaccination plan that undermined by Trump obstructionism. Come Jan. 20, the Biden administration is going to take over — whether Trump acknowledges that fact or not. But by refusing to immediately share details of the vaccine distribution plan with the incoming administration, lives may have already been lost,” Murphy concluded.

Click here to read the op-ed in full.

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