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As of Thursday morning, the virus had killed more than 384,000 Americans, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Evidence that the virus continues to hamstring the U.S. economy is also readily available.

The latest jobless claims report, published earlier Thursday, showed that first-time claims for unemployment insurance jumped to 965,000 last week. The figure represented the highest level of initial unemployment claims since August.

Last week, the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report found employers shed 140,000 jobs in December, another indication the summer’s business rebound has paused or reversed.

“I think we’re going to see the existing stimulus program mitigate that, but it’s not going to give us the bounce we need to carry through until the vaccine has really brought the virus under control,” said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer at Commonwealth Financial Network.

“The question is: How fast are we going to bounce back? If you assume we’re going to bounce back without more stimulus, that’s basically the case for no more stimulus,” he added. “Personally, I’m not convinced that’s the case. And even if it is the case, it will certainly be much faster and more humane if we get more stimulus.”

Though some wondered if Biden would try to force the legislation through Congress using a special budgetary tool known as reconciliation, the president-elect is hoping the proposal will appeal to members of both parties.

Biden’s interest in bipartisan support could be an early attempt to foster the camaraderie he will need if his long-term aspirations such as infrastructure and tax reform are to stand a chance in a Senate divided 50-50.

Though Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will cast tiebreaking votes, Biden and the rest of the caucus cannot afford to lose fellow Democrats — and will likely try to draw in moderate Republicans — if his Build Back Better plan is to stand a chance in Congress.

Biden’s cooperative stance may also be in the hope Senate lawmakers will differentiate haggling over the Covid relief legislation from Trump’s potential impeachment trial and the more-routine process of confirming Cabinet nominees.

— CNBC’s Jacob Pramuk contributed to this report.