WASHINGTON – A year after the nation was almost paralyzed by the coronavirus, President Joe Biden is outlining his plan on Thursday to bring the country “closer to normal” until the fourth of July, using his first prime-time speech to offer Americans new hopes and appeal for their help in meeting their schedule.
Speaking in the East Room of the White House, Biden will announce measures to speed up vaccinations, including instructing all states to make all adults eligible for doses by May 1. Anticipating his comments, government officials said Biden will also announce measures to expand the number of vacancies and categories of people who can give injections, with the aim of allowing Americans to gather at least in small groups for the Independence Day holiday. .
Biden is marking a year since the start of the pandemic that killed more than 530,000 Americans and disrupted the lives of many others.
Speaking on condition of anonymity to predict Biden’s comments, officials said Biden will announce that he is sending an additional 4,000 active duty soldiers to support vaccination efforts and allow more people – such as medical students, veterinarians and dentists – to give injections. He is also targeting more doses to about 950 community health centers and up to 20,000 retail pharmacies, to make it easier for people to vaccinate.
Biden will require states and territories to make all adults eligible for vaccination by May 1, as the country hopes to have enough supplies to be able to fully vaccinate adults by the end of that month.
But even while offering optimism, officials said Biden would make it clear that the July 4 calendar requires Americans to cooperate to continue to use facial coverage, maintain social distance and follow federal guidelines designed to reduce the spread of the virus in the short term. deadline.
The speech came hours after Biden signed a $ 1.9 trillion aid package on Thursday that he said will help the United States defeat the virus and restore the economy to health. Some direct checks to Americans may start arriving this weekend.
“This historic legislation is about rebuilding this country’s backbone,” said Biden when signing the bill in the Oval Office.
Most notable for many Americans are the provisions that provide up to $ 1,400 in direct payments, some of which may start to enter bank accounts this weekend, and extend $ 300 a week in emergency unemployment benefits in early September. . Also included are expanded tax credits next year for children, childcare and family leave – some of which credits Democrats have signaled they would like to make permanent – in addition to spending on renters, food programs and utility bills.
The House gave Congress final approval for the scanning package by a vote close to the 220-211 party line on Wednesday, seven weeks after Biden entered the White House and four days after the Senate passed the bill. Republicans in both chambers unanimously opposed the legislation, characterizing it as bloated, crammed with liberal policies and indifferent to signs that the crisis is easing.
Biden originally planned to sign the bill on Friday, but he arrived at the White House more quickly than anticipated.
“We want to act as quickly as possible,” tweeted White House chief of staff Ron Klain.
Looking ahead to his comments on Thursday night, Biden said he “would talk about what we went through as a nation last year, but more importantly, I will talk about what comes next.”
Biden’s challenge is to honor the sacrifices made by the Americans and, at the same time, encourage them to remain vigilant, despite the “virus fatigue” and the growing impatience to resume normal activities, given the tantalizing promise of vaccines. Speaking on the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization’s pandemic declaration, he will mourn the dead, but will also project optimism about the future.
“This is a chance for him to really shine in everyone’s living room and be the mourning chief and explain how he is leading the country out of this,” said Rice University presidential historian and professor Douglas Brinkley.
“This is a great time,” added Brinkley. “He has to win hearts and minds so that people remain masked and get vaccinated, but also recognize that, after last year, the federal government has not forgotten you.”
Biden’s comments at night in the East Room are central to a crucial week for the president, as he addresses the defining challenge of his mandate: leading the nation through the economic and public health storms caused by the virus.
On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released initial guidelines on how vaccinated people can resume some normal activities. On Wednesday, Congress approved the president’s $ 1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which aims to lessen the economic impact of the virus on tens of millions of people. And the country was on its way to administer its 100 millionth dose of vaccine as early as Thursday.
Almost exactly a year ago, President Donald Trump addressed the nation to mark the WHO’s declaration of a global pandemic. He announced travel restrictions and asked Americans to practice good hygiene, but showed little alarm about the coming catastrophe. Trump, it was later revealed, acknowledged that he was deliberately “minimizing” the threat of the virus.
For Biden, who promised to be honest with the American public after the alternate reality of the Trump virus conversation, the imperative is to find the right balance “between optimism and sadness,” said Princeton history professor and presidential scholar Julian Zelizer.
“Generally, the country likes optimism and, at this particular moment, they are desperate for optimism, but one cannot risk a ‘Mission Accomplished’ moment,” he said, warning against any premature declaration that the threat was defeated.
Fifty days after the start of his presidency, Biden is going through a voting honeymoon that his predecessor never enjoyed.
According to a survey by the Associated Press-NORC Public Affairs Research Center released last week, 70% of Americans support the Democratic president’s treatment of the response to the virus, including 44% of Republicans.
The White House hopes that as Biden takes on the role of cheerleader for the virus relief package, the elements of the $ 1.9 trillion bill that is popular with Republicans will further increase their support.
–The Associated Press