By Susan Heavey and Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden will attempt to jump-start the federal government's response to the coronavirus pandemic with a string of immediate executive orders on Wednesday after his inauguration to lead a country reeling from its worst public health crisis in more than a century.
Biden takes office a day after the United States marked 400,000 deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic broke out last March while vaccination programs have lagged far behind the target of 20 million Americans inoculated by the end of 2020.
"We're entering what may be the toughest and deadliest period of the virus and must set aside politics and finally face this pandemic as one nation," Biden, a 78-year-old Democrat, said in his inauguration speech.
The United States has reported nearly 200,000 new COVID-19 cases and 3,000 deaths per day on a seven-day rolling average, according to Reuters data. More than 123,000 Americans were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Wednesday. (Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/34pvUyi)
Although the U.S. government has sent roughly 36 million doses of two approved vaccines to states so far, only 16.5 million have been administered, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Most of those shots have gone to healthcare workers and nursing home residents, with Americans deemed "non-essential workers" by the government told they would likely wait months for their turn.
Biden will sign an order on Wednesday requiring all federal employees to wear masks and making face coverings mandatory on federal property.
The president will also establish a new White House office to coordinate coronavirus response. And he will halt the withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organization, a process initiated by former President Donald Trump.
The Biden administration also intends to join the COVAX alliance, an initiative led by the World Health Organization and two other groups that seeks to secure fair access to COVID-19 vaccines for poor countries.
Biden's first moves are intended to mark a sharp change from the Trump administration's pandemic response, which critics say was ineffectual and uncoordinated. After taking the oath of office at a scaled back inauguration ceremony, he conducted a silent prayer for the Americans who have perished in the pandemic.
Biden was also poised to nominate an acting U.S. surgeon general as soon as Wednesday, a person familiar with the decision told MSNBC, following the resignation of Trump appointee Jerome Adams.
Biden's executive actions, particularly the mask mandate, are intended to set an example for state and local officials to rein in the virus, which has strained hospitals. Lockdown orders and business closures imposed by political leaders have thrown millions of Americans out of work and hobbled the U.S. economy.
The federal mask mandate plan drew praise from the nation's top business lobby on Wednesday, with U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Suzanne Clark calling it "a smart and practical approach."
Scientists and public health experts have said face masks can help prevent the spread of the highly contagious virus, but face coverings have become a flashpoint in American life reflecting the nation's larger political divide.
Trump, who contracted COVID-19 last autumn, had eschewed their use and held crowded, largely maskless campaign rallies. Biden's campaign initially stuck to virtual events before expanding to other masked and socially distant gatherings.
There were few face masks as Trump departed Washington on Wednesday morning. Speaking at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Trump painted his administration as a victim of the virus.
"We got hit. Nobody blames us for that. The whole world got it," he said of the pandemic's toll on the economy. He later touted the development of a vaccine as a "miracle" before paying his respects to people and families impacted by the virus.
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