Trump left coronavirus situation ‘more dire than we had thought,’ Biden says

'We thought they had indicated there was a lot more vaccine available,' president says

President Joe Biden has said that Donald Trump left the coronavirus situation in the United States “more dire than we had thought” in his first network interview as president. 

During the interview with CBS’s Norah O’Donnell, Mr Biden said the country had been set back in its fight against coronavirus due to the former administration.

He explained that the position the country found itself in amid the pandemic was "even more dire than we thought” when the Biden administration took over on 20 January.

"We thought they had indicated there was a lot more vaccine available. And [that] didn't turn out to be the case. So that's why we've ramped up every way we can," he said.

The vaccination effort across the country has kicked off to a slower start than expected amid issues with distribution and supply.

Ms O'Donnell pointed out during the interview that Dr Anthony Fauci had said in June that said that at least 75 per cent of Americans have to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity against the disease.

“I would settle for 70, 75 per cent effective vaccine. Because that would bring you to that level, would be herd immunity level,” Dr Fauci previously told CNN.

CBS News calculated that given the current speed of vaccine deployment 75 per cent of Americans won't be vaccinated until the end of 2021.

"We can't wait that long," Mr Biden said, after calling the coronavirus crisis alongside its impacts on children and employment of women across the country a “national emergency”.

More than three million American women have left their jobs and are no longer looking for work, alarming new statistics from the federal government show.

Parents have also reported growing concern over schoolchildren's stunted learning, emotional growth, and mental health with many children having faced disrupted learning for up to a year.

"Do you think it's time for schools to reopen?" Ms O'Donnell asked the president during one segment.

"I think it's time for schools to reopen safely. Safely," Mr Biden said, outlining necessary guidelines for “fewer people in the classroom” and “ventilation systems”.

The president said the commissioner for the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would be "coming out with science-based judgment" re-opening guidance as early as Wednesday.

In January, Senator Chris Coons echoed similar comments to Mr Biden that Mr Trump and “his team caused more harm than expected” to the state of the pandemic during the transition.

Senator Coons noted that “unfortunately although not surprisingly” transition teams had discovered that “outgoing president Trump and his team had caused untold damage.

“Not only was the cupboard bare in terms of leadership but it was shockingly worse than they expected,” he said.

The previous administration fell short of delivering 20 million vaccine doses by the end of 2020 to citizens across the country with around 16.5 million vaccine doses administered as of 20 January, according to the CDC.