He said his first months in office would not end the outbreak and gave few details on rollout strategy but he said he would change the course of Covid-19.
Introducing his health team for when he takes office on 20 January, he urged Americans to "mask up for 100 days".
On Tuesday, a report paved the way for a Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to be approved and rolled out for Americans.
President Donald Trump meanwhile attended a summit at the White House of his Covid vaccination programme called Operation Warp Speed and hailed the expected approval of vaccines.
