Democrat Joe Biden said Thursday that he would ask Americans to wear masks for his first 100 days in office to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Biden said he would do this as part of his first acts as president, which seems to be a retraction from his previous comments of implementing a mask mandate nationwide.

Biden's move was a notable shift from President Donald Trump's skepticism of mask-wearing that politicized the issue and resulted in many people becoming hesitant to practice the measure, which public health experts said is one of the easiest ways to manage the pandemic.

Multiple media organizations have recently declared Biden to be president-elect.  

Biden on The Pandemic

Biden has frequently highlighted mask-wearing as a patriotic duty and has floated the idea of establishing a nationwide mask mandate during his campaign.

He later acknowledged that this would be beyond the president's ability to impose. 

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Biden said he would request Americans to commit to 100 days of wearing masks during his inauguration day on Jan. 20, as reported by The Associated Press.

"Just 100 days to mask, not forever. Just 100 days. And I think we'll see a significant reduction," Biden said in the report.

Biden further noted that he would be willing to be vaccinated to ensure the public's concerns about a coronavirus vaccine's efficacy and safety.

Three former presidents, namely Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton, said they are also willing to be vaccinated on camera to show that it is safe.

Biden said a lot of people had lost faith in the ability of the vaccine to work.

"It matters what a president and the vice president do," Biden noted in the AP report.

Biden also revealed his intentions to keep Dr. Anthony Fauci in his administration to do the exact role he has had for the past several administrations.

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is the country's top infectious disease expert.  

Biden on Trump Cases

Biden also addressed reports of considering Trump's pardons and his allies. He said that it concerns him in what kind of precedent it shows and how the rest of the world sees the United States as a nation of laws and justice.

Biden reiterated that his Justice Department would work independently, adding that whoever he chooses to head the said department will have the chance to decide what and who gets to be investigated.

The Democratic presidential nominee further explained that the public would not see his administration making that kind of approach to pardons. 

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"Nor are you going to see in our administration the approach to making policy by tweets," Biden said in a report.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris backed Biden's statements.

Harris said that any actions done by the Department of Justice should be based on facts and laws. She added that it should not be influenced by politics.