President Biden on Thursday used his first primetime address to set a goal for Americans to be able to gather in small groups by the Fourth of July and for all adults to be eligible for vaccine sign-ups by May 1. But Biden outlined a darker alternative if things don’t go so well.
The speech encouraged the public to take COVID-19 vaccine shots and wear masks — warning that if they fail to do so, the country could go back into lockdown.
“Even if we devote every resource we have, beating this virus and getting back to normal depends on national unity. National unity isn’t just how politics and politicians vote in Washington or what the loudest voices say on cable or online,” Biden said.
“Unity is what we do together as fellow Americans because if we don’t stay vigilant and the conditions change, we may have to reinstate restrictions to get back on track. Please, we don’t want to do that again. We’ve made so much progress. This is not the time to let up.”
He added: “Just as we were emerging from a dark winter into a hopeful spring and summer, it is not the time to not stick with the rules.”
The reforms to vaccine distribution and the looming end to strict social distancing measures were touted with more assuredness.
“I’m announcing that I will direct all states, tribes and territories to make all adults — people 18 and over — eligible to be vaccinated no later than May 1,” Biden said. “Let me be clear, that doesn’t mean everyone’s going to have that shot immediately. But it means you’ll be able to get in line beginning May 1.”
Biden said, repeating a timeframe that he’s outlined for two weeks, “we will have enough vaccine supply for all adults in America by the end of May. That’s months ahead of schedule.”
The president said that if all goes according to plan, July 4 could see near-normal American festivities.
“By July the Fourth there’s a good chance you, your families and friends will be able to get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood and have a cookout or a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day,” Biden said.
“That doesn’t mean large events with lots of people together, but it does mean small groups will be able to get together. After this long hard year, it will make this Independence Day something truly special, where we not only mark our independence as a nation, but we begin to mark our independence from this virus.”
Biden claimed credit for the US progress toward ending the pandemic and without mentioning him by name, attacked his predecessor, former President Donald Trump.
“We lost faith in whether our government and our democracy can deliver on really hard things for the American people,” Biden said.
“I have as president of the United States put us on a war footing to get the job done. Sounds like hyperbole, but I mean it, a war footing. Thank God we’re making some real progress now.”
Trump implicitly slammed Biden in a Wednesday statement for claiming credit for vaccine distribution, noting that billions in federal funds were infused into research and development under his watch.
Trump said, “if I wasn’t President, you wouldn’t be getting that beautiful ‘shot’ for 5 years, at best, and probably wouldn’t be getting it at all.”
Biden’s more than 20-minute speech marked the one-year anniversary of widespread coronavirus lockdowns across the US, and came hours after he signed the $1.9 trillion pandemic stimulus bill that Democrats rammed through Congress this week in party-line votes.
The massive bill gives $1,400 stimulus checks to most Americans, extends a $300 weekly unemployment supplement through Sept. 3 and awards $350 billion to state and local governments.
The president said the bill “means a typical family of four earning about $110,000 will get checks for $5,600 deposited if they have direct deposit.”
Biden also eulogized the loss of life and lifestyle in his address
“A year ago, we were hit with a virus that was met with silence and spread unchecked. Denials for days, weeks and months. That led to more deaths, more infections, more stress and more loneliness. Photos and videos from 2019 feel like they were taken in another era,” Biden said.
“You lost your job, you closed your business, facing eviction, homelessness, hunger. A loss of control, maybe worst of all, a loss of hope.”
Students, he said “haven’t seen their friends” because their schools closed.
In his address, Biden said that the “fight is far from over,” striking a familiar tone on the pandemic, again urging the need of sacrifice and patience to defeat the virus that has infected nearly 30 million Americans and killed more than 525,000.
Ahead of the speech, the White House announced initiatives that went unmentioned in Biden’s address but that will seek to hasten the end of the pandemic.
Among the new initiatives is the deployment of an additional 4,000 US troops to support coronavirus vaccination efforts, from the 2,000 already deployed around the country.
The administration also plans to double the number of pharmacies participating in the federal vaccination program and expand mobile operations to vaccinate people in communities that have been hard-hit by the virus, the White House said.
The Biden administration will on Friday also dramatically expand the pool of professionals who can administer COVID-19 shots.
“Tomorrow, the Administration will expand the pool of qualified professionals able to administer shots to include: Dentists, advanced and intermediate Emergency Medical Technicians, Midwives, Optometrists, Paramedics, Physician Assistants, Podiatrists, Respiratory Therapists, and Veterinarians, as well as medical students, nursing students, and other healthcare students in the previously listed professions,” the White House said ahead of the speech.
