President Joe Biden said on Friday that once the coronavirus pandemic is defeated, his government will target another deadly disease: cancer.
“I want you to know that once we defeat Covid, we will do everything we can to end cancer as we know it,” said Biden in a speech after visiting Pfizer’s huge coronavirus vaccine manufacturing site in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S., according to the National Center for Health Statistics, with nearly 600,000 people dying from cancer in 2019. Nearly 1.9 million new cancer cases will be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2021, American Cancer Society estimate of the researchers.
One of Biden’s sons, Beau Biden, died at 46 from an aggressive form of brain cancer.
Biden said that two White House offices, the President’s Council of Science and Technology Consultants and the Office of Science and Technology Policy, will be involved in the development of an “advanced research effort on cancer and other diseases”.
Dr. Eric Lander, director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, will co-lead the two offices, said Biden.
The president compared the initiative to DARPA, the Pentagon agency tasked with testing new technologies.
As a presidential candidate, Biden proposed the creation of such an agency as part of the “Made in America” board of his platform. His campaign website called it the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, or ARPA-H.
The then candidate Biden would have frequently brought up the proposal during private campaign fundraising, although he rarely spoke about it at public events.
Biden’s prospective announcement appeared to be intended to send the message that his government has increased its control over the pandemic.
This message was emphasized by the location he chose to deliver it: a 1,300-acre vaccine manufacturing site where millions of doses of Pfizer’s Covid vaccine are being produced, packaged, frozen and shipped abroad.
“We are now at a point where we have seen the average daily number of vaccinated people almost double since the week before I took office, to an average of 1.7 million a day receiving an injection,” said Biden, adding: ” We ‘am on the right path to overcome my commitment’ to administer 100 million doses in his first 100 days as president.
But “despite the progress, we are still facing a pandemic,” warned Biden.
He noted that new strains of the virus are emerging and that the US is on the verge of overcoming the grim 500,000 deaths due to Covid.
“If there is a message that should be conveyed to everyone in this country, it is this: vaccines are safe. Please, for you, your family, your community, this country, take the vaccine when it is your turn and it is available,” he said. Biden.
Biden urged Americans to continue to take precautions for their health and safety, including washing their hands, socializing and wearing masks.
“Look, I know it’s inconvenient, but you’re making a commitment when you do,” said Biden. “Everyone needs to do their part for themselves, for their loved ones and, yes, for their country. It is a patriotic duty.”