According to the president, who addressed his fellow citizens with a prime-time television address for the first time, the country will be closer to normalizing life by the beginning of July.
President Joe Biden addressed the nation for the first time on late-night television on Wednesday, promising that his administration will do everything possible to ensure that every American has the opportunity to receive a coronavirus vaccine by May 1. Biden announced the beginning of a new phase in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and said that the country would be closer to resuming “normal life” – such as before the outbreak of the pandemic – in four months, by the US Independence Day, which is celebrated on July 4.
“Independence Day, which we will be able to celebrate after this long, difficult year, will be truly special,” the head of the White House said. “After all, we will celebrate not only our independence as a nation but also that we are beginning to be more and more independent of this virus. But for this to happen, we must not let our guard down.”
In the seven weeks since January 21, the day the president announced a new comprehensive strategy to combat the pandemic, U.S. residents have received more than 81 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines. Today, Joe Biden outlined a new phase of his strategy to end the pandemic.
Biden promised that in the coming weeks, his administration would do everything to ensure that every American adult is eligible for vaccination no later than May 1. Appropriate instructions and instructions will be given to the authorities of all states, territories, and tribal communities within the United States.
In addition to increasing the supply of vaccines, the Biden administration will increase the number of places where Americans can get vaccinated-in the near future; the authorities will supply millions of doses of vaccines to 950 public health centers, more than 20,000 pharmacies, as well as almost 600 federal mass vaccination centers, which are managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Department of Defense and other federal agencies in partnership with state authorities.
The administration will also increase the number of qualified specialists who can administer vaccinations – for example, dentists and medical college students will be eligible to administer vaccines. The Department of Health and Human Services will launch a dedicated website for volunteers who want to help run a campaign to vaccinate Americans against COVID-19.
Another site will help US residents find the nearest vaccination points. Also, Americans who do not have access to the Internet will call a specialized call center to provide recommendations and help find vaccination points.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will issue clear guidelines for people who have already been fully vaccinated.
Another priority of the administration is to open schools, Biden said. Thanks to the “Save America Plan” adopted yesterday, the Department of Education will soon distribute almost $ 130 billion to open schools across the country safely.
The funds, among other things, will be spent on expanding testing of schoolchildren and employees of educational institutions, as well as on vaccination of teachers, who are among the priority categories of the population for vaccination.
The president added that the authorities would continue to fight against COVID-19 mutations and their spread. $ 1.75 billion will be spent on a program for sequencing (sorting) virus samples to identify and combat mutations that aggravate the course of the disease or increase the contagion of the coronavirus.
