Biden’s speech, which lasted only 24 minutes, did not include a large number of verifiable statements. But here’s an analysis of some of the verifiable claims he made:
In the opening moments of his speech, Biden said: “A year ago, we were hit by a virus that was received with silence and spread unchecked. Denials for days, weeks and then months. This led to more deaths, more infections, more stress, and more loneliness. ”
In late January 2020, the White House announced a coronavirus task force, declared a public health emergency and imposed travel restrictions on China. Trump spoke about the threat of the virus at a campaign rally in late January 2020 and in his State of the Union address in early February 2020.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided January updates on the virus.
Biden could have said precisely that many of Trump’s early observations about the virus were dismissive, superficial or inaccurate; Trump repeatedly declared, in March 2020, that the out-of-control situation was under control. But it is not true that Trump was not talking about the virus, and it is certainly not true that the government as a whole was not talking about it.
Vaccinations in the United States
Biden praised the number of people vaccinated in the United States during his speech, noting that the country is “on track to reach the goal of 100 million shots on my 60th day in office.”
“No other country in the world has done that. None,” added Biden.
Facts first: It is true that no country has vaccinated more people than the United States, although it is important to note that there are some smaller countries that have vaccinated a larger portion of its total population. So far, the US has administered vaccines to more than 95 million people, a greater number than any other country in the world. Yet, 14 countries including Chile, Israel and the United Kingdom, vaccinated more people per capita. It should be noted that these countries have much smaller populations.
Vaccinations for people over 65
“When I took office 50 days ago, only 8% of Americans – after months – only 8% of those over 65 had received their first vaccination,” said Biden. “Today that number is 65%.”
Facts first: This is misleading and needs context. In the USA, the first person received a dose of vaccination outside of a clinical trial in December 14 and Biden took office on January 20 – so the vaccine had not been available for “months” before, as the president suggested, although that may have been a reference to the duration of the pandemic.
As for Biden’s claim that 65% of Americans over 65 received their first injection, it is unclear whether Biden was citing different data, but according to data from the CDC, on Thursday 62.4% of those aged 65 years or more received in at least one make of the vaccine, not 65%.
Previously, as the Associated Press reported, an adviser to the government’s virus task force had incorrectly stated on Wednesday that 60% of that age group had been fully vaccinated, while Biden correctly noted that this number refers only to those who received at least one dose less.
Vaccine supply
Describing his government’s efforts to respond to the pandemic, Biden said: “Two months ago, this country did not have enough vaccines to vaccinate all or almost all Americans. But soon we will.”
Facts first: This needs context and depends on how the vaccine supply is being defined. If the vaccine supply is measured by requested doses or under contract, that amount exceeded the US population before Biden’s inauguration. But if it is due to the quantity of doses distributed, then the vaccine stock of two months ago was not enough to vaccinate the entire American public.
In January 2021, “[u]DOD employee reports and company representatives indicate that there are at least one billion doses of vaccine under contract, “according to a report by the Government Accountability Office. This includes 100 million doses each for the three vaccines currently authorized in the U.S.: Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, however, as of January 20, only about 36 million doses of the vaccine had been distributed and were available for administration, according to the CDC, by March 11, 131,131,470 doses of the vaccine were delivered, which is more than when Biden took office two months ago, but only enough for about 40% of the US population or just over half the amount of all American adults to receive a dose .
Deaths by covid-19
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on March 11, 527,726 Americans died from Covid-19. Biden claimed “
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