January 21, 2021

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Applauds White House National COVID-19 Strategy

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Barbara Lee released the following statement on President Biden’s national strategy to address the COVID-19 pandemic:  

“Over 400,000 people lost their lives in the past year from this pandemic. Communities of color were especially impacted as a result of systemic racism in our public health system. As millions suffered, we could not look to leadership from the Trump administration to address this crisis.  

“On his second day in office, President Biden signed executive orders to enact a national strategy that is driven by science, data, and is free from political interference. The plan will accelerate the response to this crisis by increasing the vaccine supply, creating more spaces for communities to get vaccinated, and ensuring that testing is free and accessible to all.  

“The Biden administration’s plan also recognizes and addresses the converging crises of COVID-19, systemic racism, and public health disparities. In the last Congress, I introduced the COVID Community Care Act to invest in medically underserved communities and build trust in the COVID-19 vaccine at the community level. I am pleased that President Biden’s national strategy will build programs to meet the needs of hard-to-reach and high-risk populations, that include equitable vaccine distribution and working with trusted messengers at the local level.  

“There will also be a White House COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force to provide recommendations to the President for allocating resources to communities with inequities in COVID-19 outcomes by race, ethnicity, geography, disability, and other considerations.

“I will continue working with the Biden administration and my colleagues in Congress to ensure that we implement this strategy as quickly as possible and that underserved communities received the care they need.” 

For a summary of the plan, please click here.