Why Biden’s Vaccination Goals Matter

Jonathan Bernstein: “Goals publicly stated by the president put the government on notice; that helps activate the bureaucracy and pressure civil servants to achieve what the president wants.”

“In theory, everyone who works in the U.S. government wants to defeat the pandemic. But in practice, bureaucrats are wary about trying new things, worried about others encroaching on their jurisdiction, and prone to ignoring the president when they can get away with it. Public pressure makes all of that harder, and therefore should make maximizing vaccinations more likely.”