In life and death race, US speeds up vaccinations
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us President Joe Biden said he鈥檚 bumping up his deadline by two weeks for states to make all adults in the United States eligible for coronavirus vaccines. But even as he expressed optimism about the pace of vaccinations, he warned Americans that the nation is not yet out of the woods when it comes to the pandemic.
鈥淟et me be deadly earnest with you: We aren鈥檛 at the finish line. We still have a lot of work to do. We鈥檙e still in a life and death race against this virus,鈥 Biden said on Tuesday.
He warned 鈥渘ew variants of the virus are spreading and they鈥檙e moving quickly. Cases are going back up, hospitalizations are no longer declining,鈥 he said, adding 鈥渢he pandemic remains dangerous.鈥
Biden said that while his administration is on schedule to meet his new goal of 200 million doses during his first 100 days, it will still take time for enough Americans to get vaccinated to slow the spread of the virus.
But he expressed hope his announcement will help expand access and distribution of the vaccine. Some states already had begun moving up their deadlines from the original May 1.
鈥淣o more confusing rules. No more confusing restrictions,鈥 Biden said.
He also said no one should fear mutations of the coronavirus that are showing up in the US after being discovered in other countries. He acknowledged the new strains are more virulent and more dangerous, but said 鈥渢he vaccines work on all of them.鈥
Biden also announced that 150 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been shot into arms since his inauguration on January 20. That puts the president well on track to meet his new goal of 200 million shots administered by his 100th day in office on April 30.
The original goal had been 100 million shots, but that was reached in March.
Still, he acknowledged his administration fell short of its goal to deliver at least one shot to every teacher, school staff member and child care worker during March, to try to accelerate school reopenings.
Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, also spent the day Tuesday focused on promoting the COVID-19 vaccine, each touring a vaccination center, Harris in Chicago and Emhoff in Yakima, Washington.
Harris praised the workers and those receiving their vaccine at a site set up at a local union hall, and spoke of spring as 鈥渁 moment where we feel a sense of renewal.鈥
鈥淲e can see a light at the end of the tunnel,鈥 she said.
Some states are making plans to ease their health restrictions, even as the country is facing a potential new surge in COVID-19 cases.
On Tuesday, Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation鈥檚 top infectious disease expert, warned the country is in a 鈥渃ritical time鈥 because 鈥渨e could just as easily swing up into a surge.鈥
鈥淭hat would be a setback for public health, but that would be a psychological setback, too,鈥 he said. He noted Americans are experiencing 鈥淐OVID-19 fatigue鈥 after more than a year of lockdowns and restrictions to public life.
Biden and many of his advisers have warned against reopening the economy too quickly and easing mask mandates, at the risk of driving a fresh surge in infections.
鈥淲e just don鈥檛 want to have to go back to really shutting things down. That would be terrible,鈥 Fauci said.
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