In a 346-page report released last week, General Accountability Office auditors stated they were “deeply troubled” by the lack of attention the Trump Administration was giving to ways to improve the response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Washington Post reports.

That statement alone stands in stark contrast to normally dispassionate, objective analysis of government programs by the GAO, which is characteristically analytical and dull in its in-depth reviews.

The GAO report found that nearly 90% of the recommendations it made in its last three quarterly reviews for tasks like increasing the availability of PPE and testing had remained unimplemented by January 15, 2021, less than one week before Donald Trump left office.

The report covers a wide range of issues relating to the Trump Administration handling of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent aid programs set up by Congress to help Americans.  One issue related to overpayment of more than $1.1 billion in the Department of Labor’s Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.  The auditors also found that the Small Business Administration had provided funds to more than 3,000 business that were ineligible for the assistance.

In a scathing assessment, the GAO found the Department of Health and Human Services was grossly unprepared for the distribution of the forthcoming coronavirus vaccine.  In its September 2020 report, the GAO advised DHHS on gaping holes in its plans for allotment and distribution of the vaccine supplies, which led to significant delays and problems when vaccines became available in December.

“In September 2020, GAO stressed the importance of having a plan that focused on coordination and communication and recommended that HHS, with the support of the Department of Defense, establish a time frame for documenting and sharing a national plan for distributing and administering COVID-19 vaccine, and among other things, outline an approach for how efforts would be coordinated across federal agencies and nonfederal entities,” the GAO said. “To date, this recommendation has not been fully implemented. GAO reiterates the importance of doing so.”