BOSTON — March 11, 2020, the NBA shut down indefinitely and life as we knew it began evaporating. One year later, President Biden delivering good news: Not only will those stimulus checks be deposited soon, but we are potentially only a couple of months away from being able to gather.
President Biden started the night off pulling out the card he carries in his pocket with the number of deaths from COVID-19.
“As of now, total deaths in America, 527,726,” said President Biden. “That’s more deaths than in World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, and 9/11 combined.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken lives, jobs, and our normal way of life. Now President Biden saying the plan to vaccinate 100 million people in his first 100 days in office has ramped up.
He plans to hit that by day 60 and as for everyone else on that waiting list.
“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. Let me say that again. All adult Americans will be eligible to get a vaccine no later than May 1. That’s much earlier than expected,” he said.
This aligns with the state’s original projections to open up to the general public between April and June. President Biden saying if all goes according to plan, we may have our Independence from COVID by July 4th.
“If we do all this, if we do our part, if we do this together, by July the 4, 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.”
President Biden made these proclamations on the same day that he signed that $1.9 trillion stimulus bill.
Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel released the following statement on Joe Biden’s primetime address:
“Tonight, on a solemn occasion marking the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 shutdown, the American people heard Joe Biden take a victory lap for passing a $1.9 trillion boondoggle disguised as COVID ‘relief’. Biden and Democrats in Congress chose to pass a partisan bill where only 9 percent of the money is targeted to fighting the pandemic, all while continuing to ignore the suffering of American families that are struggling while out of work and out of school. It’s also an important reminder that one year ago today, President Trump announced an aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront the virus that ultimately resulted in the fastest creation of a vaccine in modern history through Operation Warp Speed. As our nation recovers, it is important to focus on the challenges that lie ahead: getting Americans back to work, allowing students to return to school, and finishing the work the Trump Administration started in distributing vaccines.”
Health experts say we can’t throw out the May 1st and July 4th dates without some sort of plan, and President Biden says that plan is to increase the number of people giving out the shots.
“Calling active duty military, FEMA, retired doctors and nurses, administrators, and those to administer the shots,” he said.
President Biden says with their help, there will be enough people vaccinated by Independence Day to start small gatherings.
“To do this, we’re going to go from a million shots a day that I promised in December before I was sworn in, to maintaining, beating our current pace of 2 million shots a day, outpacing the rest of the world,” the president said.
But more people administering the shots won’t matter unless you have the vaccines. President Biden says with increased production, and a plan to buy an additional 100 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccines we’ll have enough vaccine for all American adults by the end of May. But one problem remains, how to avoid a chaotic rollout.
“We will launch with our partners new tools to make it easier for you to find the vaccine and where to get the shot including a new website that will help you first find the place to get vaccinated and the one nearest you. No more searching day and night for an appointment for you and your loved ones,” he said.
“Massachusetts leads nearly every state in the nation in distributing COVID vaccines and our Administration has the infrastructure in place to administer far more doses than the Commonwealth currently receives from the federal government,” Gov. Charlie Baker said in a statement in response to the speech. “We have worked hard to ensure that every dose we get from the federal government ends up in an eligible resident’s arm in a matter of a few days. I welcome President Biden’s announcement and redouble my call on the federal government to do everything in its power to increase vaccine production to meet the massive demand. Massachusetts and the nation have accomplished amazing things together when the full force of American ingenuity is put to use. Every possible resource must be dedicated to increasing vaccine production now so that states have this critical resource available for every resident in the coming months.”
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