Provider groups including AHA, AMA call for White House to work with Biden administration

Top provider groups are urging the White House to share critical COVID-19 information with the incoming Biden Administration to prevent any potential lapses in care for patients. 

In a letter to President Donald Trump, the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association called for the sharing of real-time data and information on the supply of therapeutics, testing supplies, personal protective equipment, ventilators, hospital bed capacity and workforce availability to President-elect Joe Biden's transition team plan for further deployment of assets.

"As providers of care for all Americans, we see the suffering that is occurring in our communities due to COVID-19," the letter said. "We see families who have lost both parents from COVID- 19; we see children suffering from long-term effects due to a COVID-19 infection, and we see minority populations disproportionately suffering from the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is from this front line human perspective that we urge you to share critical data and information as soon as possible."

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They also called for "all information" to be shared with Biden's team about the capacity of the Strategic National Stockpile, the assets from Operation Warp Speed, and plans for dissemination of therapeutics and vaccines. The letter was signed by AHA President and CEO Richard Pollack, AMA CEO and EVP James Madara, and ANA Acting CEO Debbie Dawson Hatmaker. 

Their call comes in the face of an increasingly devastating pandemic that is surging across the country as the holidays approach.

It also came a day after Biden's remarks in Wilmington, Del. calling for cooperation with his transition team on developing a coordinated response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Washington Post reported.  

“More people may die if we don’t coordinate. … How do we get over 300 million Americans vaccinated? What’s the game plan? It’s a huge, huge, huge undertaking,” Biden said.

CNN also reported there are increasing concerns that the lack of coordination could slow the rollout of vaccines. This week, Moderna released impressive efficacy findings for its vaccine just a week after Pfizer posted its own encouraging vaccine efficacy numbers.

As many as 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine could begin being distributed as early as December, Moncef Slaoui, chief advisor of the government's Operation Warp Speed program, said during a news conference last week. If approved, Slaoui said there would be enough doses to immunize about 20 million individuals in the month of December and an additional 20 million to 25 million more people each month following on an ongoing basis, he said.