WASHINGTON (AP) – The latest news about President Joe Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package (all local times):
8:05 pm
President Joe Biden is delivering a gloomy but optimistic message on the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking from a pulpit on a flag-covered stage in the East Room of the White House, Biden is reflecting on the worst public health crisis in more than a century. It killed almost 530,000 Americans, sickened millions of people and devastated the global economy.
Biden says, “We all lost something, a collective suffering, a collective sacrifice.”
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6:40 pm
President Joe Biden is planning to announce during his prime-time speech Thursday night that he will send an additional 4,000 US troops to support coronavirus vaccination efforts. He is also hugely expanding the group of people who are eligible to serve as vaccinators.
This is according to a senior government official who informed reporters before Biden’s speech to the nation. The official said the president will also announce plans to double the number of pharmacies participating in the vaccination program, expand mobile operations to vaccinate people in communities that have been hard hit by the virus, and double the number of mass vaccination centers administered by the federal government. .
There are currently 2,000 soldiers on active duty supporting vaccination efforts across the country.
The official said the White House plans to detail plans on Friday to expand who can manage the shots. Dentists, paramedics, medical assistants, veterinarians and medical students will become eligible to administer vaccines under the new guidance.
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6:30 pm
President Joe Biden will use his first prime-time speech on Thursday night to announce that he is instructing states to make all American adults eligible for a coronavirus vaccine by May 1.
This is according to two senior government officials who informed reporters before Biden’s speech last night on the pandemic’s one-year anniversary. Officials say the president will also say that there is a good chance that Americans will be able to meet safely in small groups by July 4.
Biden must also emphasize that “the fight is far from over”. But he will say the country will be “in a much better place” on the Independence Day holiday if Americans wear masks, follow public health guidelines and get vaccinated when their time comes. The authorities spoke on condition of anonymity to keep the focus on the president’s speech.