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WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden said on Thursday (March 12) that he would direct US states to make all adults eligible for the coronavirus vaccine by May 1 and urged Americans in a televised speech to stay vigilant against the virus, hours after he signed a $ 1.9 trillion stimulus bill.
In a forceful but somber speech from the White House on the first anniversary of the pandemic’s shutdown, Biden said he was working to accelerate COVID-19 vaccines to create a greater sense of normalcy in the country for the Independence Day holiday. July 4th.
That date is a new target for the president, who warned Americans that there was still more pain and death to come from the virus that has killed more than 530,000 people in the United States, most of any country. Coronavirus-related lockdowns and restrictions have cost millions of jobs.
In an account of the terrible toll the pandemic has taken on the nation, Biden said: “The photos and videos from 2019 feel like they were taken in another era. The last vacation. The last birthday with friends. The last vacation with extended family.
“While it was different for everyone, we all lost something,” he said, noting that the virus was met with “denials for days, then weeks, then months, leading to more deaths, more infections, more stress, more loneliness.” .
But as financial stimulus from the recently enacted aid bill reaches growing numbers of vaccinated people, Biden offered cautious optimism to a country that, like the rest of the world, is tired of pandemic restrictions and economic pain. .
Biden said he was directing US states, territories and tribes to make all adults eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine by May 1. The White House has said it would have a sufficient supply of vaccines to vaccinate the population by the end of May. About 10 percent of Americans so far have been fully vaccinated.
The president also said that more American troops would help in the vaccination effort, adding that families and friends should be able to meet again in small groups before July 4, a holiday many Americans celebrate with outdoor parties, hot dogs. and fireworks.
The White House is also looking to expand the pool of people who can administer vaccines to include dentists, optometrists, paramedics, veterinarians, and medical students.
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Biden campaigned last year on the promise that he would address the pandemic more effectively than Republican President Donald Trump, and has tried to encourage and model behavior, such as wearing masks, that Trump avoided.
He encouraged Americans to maintain mitigation efforts – wearing masks, staying socially distant, and practicing good hygiene – to stop the spread of the virus as the pace of vaccines increases. Several states have loosened restrictions.
“We face and we overcome one of the most difficult and dark periods in the history of this nation, the darkest that we have known,” said Biden, adding: “I promise you that you will come out stronger.”
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‘FIGHT OPPORTUNITY’
Earlier in the day, Biden signed the United States Rescue Plan bill, designed to be a financial bridge for the most affected Americans and a boost to the economy, with Vice President Kamala Harris by his side in the Oval Office. The package is a major political victory for the Democratic president less than two months into his administration.
Biden and top members of his administration will embark on a victory lap in the coming weeks to praise and explain the legislation, which won final approval from the US House of Representatives on Wednesday.
“This landmark legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country and giving the people of this nation – working people and middle class people, the people who built the country – a fighting opportunity,” Biden said before signing.
The package provides $ 400 billion for direct payments of $ 1.400 to most Americans, $ 350 billion in aid to state and local governments, an expansion of the child tax credit, and increased financing for distribution. of the COVID-19 vaccine. The bill passed without a single vote from Republicans, who complained that the price was too high.
Biden will discuss the benefits of the pandemic relief bill during trips to Pennsylvania next Tuesday and Atlanta on March 19.
The virus lockdown began with Trump, who downplayed the crisis in its early stages while repeatedly predicting that the virus would disappear soon, even as his administration pushed to accelerate vaccine development.
The former president and his wife, Melania Trump, did not appear in a public service announcement published Thursday that encouraged COVID-19 vaccines and featured all other living former US presidents and their spouses.
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