Biden to speak on efforts to get more Americans vaccinated after falling short of July 4 goals
Biden will receive a briefing from his Covid-19 response team and then outline the five key areas his administration is focused on as it works to get more Americans vaccinated and protect the population against the highly transmissible Delta variant.
The President will address Tuesday his administration’s targeted outreach to provide Americans with information about the safety and efficacy of the vaccines, getting vaccines to more primary care doctors and other health care providers and stepping up efforts to get vaccines to pediatricians and other providers who serve younger people so that adolescents ages 12 to 18 can get vaccinated as they go for check ups ahead of returning to school.
Biden will also discuss expanding mobile clinic efforts and making Covid-19 vaccines more accessible for workers by setting up vaccination clinics at work and helping to secure paid time off for employees, according to the official.
Biden will also stress how the administration will continue to work with governors, local leaders and across the public and private sector to get more Americans vaccinated.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the administration would continue building on efforts in which it has seen the most success.
“You don’t just give up just because you haven’t reached every single person,” Psaki told reporters at a White House briefing. “We’re going to continue to apply where we, what we’ve seen have been the best practices over the past several months.”
White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters last week that he expects the US to hit its July 4 goals in weeks and said the US has more work to do to get younger Americans — particularly 18- to 26-year-olds — vaccinated. Zients told CNN on Sunday the federal government would continue to make it easier for for the public to be vaccinated and the nation to increase the vaccination rate.
In a sign of the heightened concern about the Delta variant, the White House recently announced it would be deploying response teams made up of officials from the CDC, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency across the US to areas with a high spread of the virus because of the Delta variant and low vaccination rates. The teams will conduct surge testing, provide therapeutics like monoclonal antibodies and deploy federal personnel to areas that need support staff for vaccinations.
In another sign the pandemic is far from over, officials also said the administration plans to extend the public health emergency declaration for the pandemic that former President Donald Trump announced in 2020 when it’s due to expire this month.
Earlier this year, the administration said 90% of Americans live within five miles of a vaccination site.
This story has been updated with additional developments Tuesday.