could be under a “very different circumstance.” President also affirmed that Covid-19 vaccines will be widely available to the general public by the end of July during the first town hall of his presidency.Speaking at a CNN town hall from Milwaukee. President Biden advised Americans to get any coronavirus vaccine they can, whenever they can.
New variants may eventually reduce the efficacy of vaccines against coronavirus, Biden told CNN’s Anderson Cooper. The more the virus circulates, the more likely it is to change into vaccine-resistant forms. So, people should not wait and see, he urged.
“If you can get a vaccination, get it whenever you can get it, regardless of the other strains that are out there,” Biden said.
“It may be that a certain vaccination for a certain strain may reduce from 95% to a lower percentage of certainty that it will keep you from getting it,” Biden added. “But it will still be effective. So the clear notion is, if you’re eligible, if it’s available, get the vaccine. Get the vaccine,” he continued.
Talking on normalcy, President Biden said, the vaccine will be widely available to the general public by the end of July.
“So if that works that way, as my mother would say with the grace of God and the goodwill of the neighbors, that by next Christmas I think we’ll be in a very different circumstance God willing, than we are today,” Biden said.
When he was asked when he thinks the country will get back to normal, President Biden said he is cautious of predicting a timeline, but pointed to “next Christmas” as a moment where the nation could be under a “very different circumstance.”
“A year from now, I think that there will be significantly fewer people having to be socially distanced, have to wear a mask, but we don’t know,” Biden said.
Once again, Biden cautioned that he did not want to “over promise anything here.”
Affirming the widely vaccine availability to the general public by the end of July, biden said, “By the end of July we’ll have over 600 million doses, enough to vaccinate every single American,” Biden told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
Biden noted that there were only 50 million doses available when he assumed office. Biden said that he implemented the Defense Production Act to “get the manufacturing piece of it to get more equipment.”
He explained that one of the major obstacles for actually injecting the vaccine into people was the lack vaccinators. Biden said he issued an executive order to increase the number of vaccinators.
“Now we have made significant strides increasing the number of vaccinators. I issued an executive order allowing former retired docs and nurses to do it. We have over a thousand military personnel … We have gotten the National Guard engaged … Plus we have opened up a considerable amount of locations where you can get the vaccine,” he said.
Biden touted a ramping-up of a vaccination program he claimed was woefully inadequate when he entered the White House.
“There was nothing in the refrigerator, literally and figuratively,” Biden said.
Pressed on how he would return students to classrooms, Biden said he would emphasize getting vaccines to teachers.
“I think we should be vaccinating teachers. We should move them up in the hierarchy,” he said.
President Joe Biden addressed a second grader who asked him, through her mother, when she might be able to get the vaccine.
Biden started off by pointing out that the vaccine had not yet been cleared for children.
“We haven’t even done tests yet on children as to whether or not the certain vaccines would work or not work or what is needed,” he said.
He went on to reassure her, “you’re the safest group of people in the whole world”
“I wouldn’t worry about it, baby. I promise you,” he said. “But I know it’s kind of worrisome.”
“Don’t be scared, honey,” added Biden “…You are going to be fine and we are going to make sure mommy is fine, too.”
President Biden also outlined the plan how his administration plans on combatting the racial disparities in Covid-19 vaccine distribution.
Biden outlined three specific ways his administration aims to help reach a larger population in areas that are tough to get vaccines:
Sending a million vaccines a week to community centers that care for the “toughest of the toughest neighborhoods in terms of illness” moving forward.
Making vaccines available to more than 6,000 pharmacies across the country “because almost everyone lives” near a pharmacy.
Mobile vans and units will be sent into neighborhoods that are hard to get to including the elderly and minority communities who may not know how to register for the vaccine, “particularly in rural areas that are distant or in inner city districts
Biden also mentioned creating mass vaccination centers at stadiums.
New variants may eventually reduce the efficacy of vaccines against coronavirus, Biden told CNN’s Anderson Cooper the more the virus circulates, the more likely it is to change into vaccine-resistant forms. So, people should not wait and see, he urged.
“If you can get a vaccination, get it whenever you can get it, regardless of the other strains that are out there,” Biden said.
“It may be that a certain vaccination for a certain strain may reduce from 95% to a lower percentage of certainty that it will keep you from getting it,” Biden added. “But it will still be effective. So the clear notion is, if you’re eligible, if it’s available, get the vaccine. Get the vaccine,” he continued.
President Biden said teachers should move ahead in the line to receive shots in order to reopen schools, attempting to clarify an administration stance that he acknowledged had become muddled over the last week.
Speaking at a CNN town hall from Milwaukee during his first trip outside Washington since taking office, Biden said he wanted kindergarten through eighth grade schools open five days a week, and suggested some schools should remain open over the summer to make up for lost time.
Though some states have announced they are prioritizing teachers, vaccine availability remains a concern across the country.There are 22 states where teachers are still not eligible to receive the vaccine as a specific group — although some educators might fall into the current age group that state is vaccinating.
President Joe Biden also clarified confusion on what would qualify as a school reopening. Responding to a question from CNN’s Anderson Cooper Biden said, there had been an error in how the standard was communicated.
He said, “I said opening the majority of schools in K through 8th grade because they’re the easiest to open, the most needed to do open in terms of the impact on children and families have to stay home.”
Though some states have announced they are prioritizing teachers, vaccine availability remains a concern across the country. But there are 22 states where teachers are still not eligible to receive the vaccine as a specific group — although some educators might fall into the current age group that state is vaccinating.
The director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday emphasized the need for masking and other mitigation measures in order to reopen schools safely, saying “we have work to do” as teachers, students and parents continue to struggle with Covid-19’s impact on education.
The CDC on Friday released its long-awaited guidelines for reopening schools that focus on five key Covid-19 mitigation strategies: the universal and correct wearing of masks; physical distancing; washing hands; cleaning facilities and improving ventilation; and contact tracing, isolation and quarantine. Vaccines and testing are not among the “key” strategies the agency lays out, calling them “additional layers” of Covid-19 prevention.
About 89% of children in the US live in a county considered a red zone with high levels of Covid-19 transmission under those new school opening guidelines shared by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday, according to a CNN analysis of federal data.
