Psaki repeats debunked claim Biden admin inherited ‘no real plan’ on vaccine rollout

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White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki holds briefing

White House press secretary Jen Psaki repeated a debunked claim Thursday that the Biden administration inherited "no real plan" from the Trump administration for vaccinating Americans against COVID-19.

"When we came into this administration, I would remind you, it's now a long time ago, there was no real plan," Psaki said during her daily briefing. "We were left no plan by our predecessors.

FAUCI DEBUNKS CNN REPORTING SAYS BIDEN'S VACCINE ROLLOUT ‘NOT STARTING FROM SCRATCH’

Press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during the White House briefing Tuesday, March 15, 2022.  (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

"We needed to put in place a plan to not only get enough access to vaccines, but also ensure there were enough vaccinators and vaccine locations," she said. "That's a massive operational undertaking."

Psaki made the comments while addressing the resignation of White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients, who will be replaced by Dr. Ashish Jha, signaling a shift in the way the administration will address the pandemic going forward.

Psaki said Thursday, "We're at a point in the process where we have all of the tools, and we know the operation systems that are needed. And so right now, it's the appropriate time, and Jeff, of course, made this decision on his own."

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Dr. Anthony Fauci participates in the White House COVID-19 Response Team's regular call with the National Governors Association on the White House campus on Dec. 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Dr. Anthony Fauci previously debunked claims that the Biden administration started from scratch on its vaccine rollout. 

Speaking from the White House podium alongside Psaki the day after President Biden’s inauguration, Fauci told reporters, "We certainly are not starting from scratch because there is activity going on in the distribution," adding that the Biden administration was "taking what’s gone on" under Trump and "amplifying it in a big way."