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President-elect Joe Biden leaves the Queen Theater in Wilmington, Del., on Tuesday after receiving a briefing on national security.
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President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday highlighted the Trump administration’s refusal to recognize him as the victor in the Nov. 3 election, saying that stance might end up delaying the rollout of a coronavirus vaccine.
“One of the problems that we’re having now is the failure of the administration to recognize,” Biden said during a virtual roundtable with health-care workers on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis. “There’s a whole lot of things that we just don’t have available to us.”
He said unless those things are made available soon, his incoming administration is “going to be behind by weeks or months” in putting together “the whole initiative relating to the biggest promise we have —with two drug companies coming along and finding 95% effectiveness, efficiency in the vaccines.” He was referring to Pfizer Inc. PFE, +0.77% and BioNTech SE BNTX, +4.03% saying Wednesday that their vaccine candidate was 95% effective in final results from a pivotal study, with that news coming after Moderna Inc. MRNA, -4.57% delivered a similar update on Monday about its candidate.
“So I just want to tell you that that’s the only slow down right now that we have,” said Biden, who last week described President Donald Trump’s failure to concede the election as not of much consequence. “We’ve put together, I think, a first-rate team that you would all be proud of. And we’re all ready to go and doing an awful lot of work right now.”
Related: Biden conducting a ‘DIY’ transition as Trump administration refuses to ascertain his win
His remarks came as COVID-19 cases surge in the U.S., and as a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 52% of Republicans said that Trump “rightfully won” the White House race.
Just 29% of registered Republicans said that Biden had rightfully won, according to the poll. Some 68% of Republicans said they were worried the election was “rigged.”
Overall, 55% of adults in the U.S. said the presidential election was “legitimate and accurate,” down 7 percentage points from 2016.
The Republican incumbent’s campaign and its supporters have filed lawsuits that seek to have ballots and entire county elections declared invalid, but they have yet to provide evidence of widespread election fraud.
Also: 5 reasons why gridlock won’t plague Biden’s administration
Trump, who has refused to concede, tweeted on Wednesday that Georgia’s hand recount was “a joke,” as election officials there face a deadline of 11:59 p.m. Eastern Wednesday for that tally.
See: Trump calls Georgia recount a ‘joke’ as certification date looms
And read: Dates to watch as Trump continues legal fight to overturn the presidential election’s result
U.S. stocks SPX, -1.15% DJIA, -1.15% COMP, -0.82% traded mostly lower Wednesday, as investors weighed the surge in COVID-19 cases against the encouraging news from Pfizer and BioNTech.
