Joe Biden, after the increase in COVID-19 cases in the United States: “We have an unvaccinated pandemic”

President Joe Biden on Wednesday expressed his frustration with the slowdown in the COVID-19 vaccination rate in the United States and said it was “extremely important” for Americans to step forward and get vaccinated against the virus, as it reappears. In this context, he announced that the health authorities would recommend that children wear masks when they return to school in the fall.

The president said the Centers for Disease Control would likely advise children who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 to wear masks when they return from summer vacation to school in the fall. For the moment, no formula has received authorization for children under 12 years old.

The CDC “is going to say what you need to do is anyone under the age of 12 should wear masks at school.” This is probably what will happen “Biden said in response to a question about school safety from a concerned parent at CNN’s town hall.

Regarding the teenage students who have been vaccinated, he commented: “It will become difficult to know if mum or dad is honest that Johnny got vaccinated or not.”

Biden said that the public health crisis has largely become a problem for the unvaccinatedbecause the spread of the delta variant has led to an increase in infections across the country. “We have a pandemic for those who haven’t been vaccinated: it’s so basic, so simple“, he stressed.

The president was also optimistic about approving the vaccination of children under 12 in the coming months. But he showed his exasperation that so many eligible Americans remain reluctant to get vaccinated.

“If you get the vaccine, you won’t be hospitalized, you won’t be in intensive care, and you won’t die“Biden said on the Mount St. University forum. it is extremely important that … we all act like Americans who care about their compatriots”.

For 80 minutes, Biden answered questions about many of the day’s most pressing issues, including his infrastructure package, voting rights, and the makeup of the Congressional committee that will investigate the 6 insurgency. January at Capitol Hill. . He also reflected on what it means to be president, saying he is sometimes surprised by the pomp that comes with the job and the burden of being “the last in the room” who has to make the most important decisions.

Six months after starting his presidency, the fight against the coronavirus remains his most pressing problem. Hospitalizations and deaths in the United States affect almost all the unvaccinated. Corn COVID-19 cases nearly tripled in the United States in two weeks, amid a flood of vaccine misinformation testing hospitals, exhausting doctors and pushing clergy to fight.

Across the country, the seven-day average of daily new cases has risen over the past two weeks to more than 37,000 on Tuesday, from less than 13,700 on July 6, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Only 56.2% of Americans have been vaccinated with at least one dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Democratic president noted that the increase has become so worrying that even his critics are facing misinformation about vaccines.

Biden made an indirect reference to conservative figures on the news channel. Fox News, who now speak more openly to their skeptical guests about the benefits of getting the vaccine. Sean Hannity recently told viewers, “I believe in the science of vaccination,” and urged them to take the disease seriously. Steve Doocy, co-host of “Fox & Friends,” told viewers this week that the vaccination “will save their lives.”

Before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington, Biden told reporters he was “glad they had the courage to say what they said.”

Asked about price increases reported in recent months, Biden acknowledged that “there will be inflation in the near term” as the economy recovers from the pandemic, but said it was “very unlikely long-term inflation overflows “.

Biden, who traveled to Ohio to try to rekindle support for his economic program, visited a union training center ahead of town hall.

The recovery plan

The trip takes place during The fate of his infrastructure proposal remains uncertain after Senate Republicans rejected a $ 1 trillion bill in a key test vote Wednesday.. A bipartisan group of 22 senators said in a joint statement after the vote that they were close to reaching a deal and called for a delay until Monday.

Biden expressed his confidence in the outcome, saying, “It’s a good thing and I think we’re going to get it.”

As lawmakers discussed the details of this proposal on Capitol Hill, Biden argued that his nearly $ 4 trillion package was needed to rebuild the middle class and maintain the economic growth the country has enjoyed over the past six years. first months of his presidency.

The president’s visit brought him closer to the dangerously obsolete Brent Spence Bridge, a congestion point for trucks and emergency vehicles between Ohio and Kentucky that the last two presidents have vowed to replace to no avail.

Biden made a passing reference to the structure, telling visitors to the town hall that it was time to “fix that damn bridge.”

On CNN, the president was personal when faced with a question about the scourge of drug addiction, saying he was “very proud” of his son Hunter Biden, who published a memoir on his battle with drug addiction. He also noted that he felt a bit embarrassed by some of the added benefits the position brings. He was laughed at when he said he told some White House staff not to come and serve breakfast. The real reason: the president likes to have breakfast in a robe.

Biden forbidden obstructionism (a specific technique of parliamentary obstruction) in the face of repeated questions from CNN moderator Don Lemon about why he feels the need to protect what some critics say is a legislative tactic used in his day to maintain racist policies .

He said he was trying to unite the country around the need to protect the right to vote and that he did not want “the debate to be limited to whether or not we have obstructed”. Biden said if Democrats cleared the filibuster, “they would plunge the whole Congress into chaos and nothing will be done.”

In Washington, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday rejected two Republicans selected by House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy to sit on a commission of inquiry into the Jan. 6 insurgency on Capitol Hill. McCarthy said the GOP would not participate in the inquiry if Democrats did not accept the members he had appointed.

Lemon asked how Biden could trust Republicans and Democrats to agree on something when they couldn’t even agree to investigate the most brazen attack on the U.S. Capitol since 200 years. Biden simply replied, “These people,” a nod to the forum audience and their faith in Americans in general. But Biden also seemed to recognize that the partisan divide in Washington had grown infuriating.

“I don’t care if they think I’m Satan reincarnated,” Biden said. “The point is, you can’t watch TV and say nothing happened on the 6th and listen to people saying it was a peaceful march.”

(With information from AP and Reuters)

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