Biden mistakenly says 350 million Americans are vaccinated

WASHINGTON – President Biden said on Friday that 350 million Americans – more than the entire population of the United States – had been vaccinated against COVID-19 in a slip that was quickly caught as he left for his 17th trip to Delaware since taking office.

Biden, dressed in a beige suit, spoke of the need to continue vaccinating Americans after a surprisingly strong report showed the US economy created 943,000 jobs in July, beating expectations and pushing the rate down unemployment rate at 5.4%.

“You know, we have about 350 million people vaccinated in the United States and billions around the world. And hardly anyone died from these vaccinations [sic]He said in the East Room of the White House.

“Today, around 400 people will die from the Delta variant in this country – a tragedy because virtually all of these deaths are preventable if people had been vaccinated. But 10 months ago today, nearly 4,000 people died that day from COVID-19 – 4,000 versus 400. It shows just how much our progress in immunization has done to protect us from the worst of the new Delta COVID-19 wave.

Biden, 78, is often accused of mental decline and then President Donald Trump made his cognitive form a central campaign issue last year.

The Republican National Committee released the clip of Biden’s mistake on Friday, Tweeter, “WATCH: Joe Biden says 350 million Americans are vaccinated, or more than 100% of the American population.

“Full Metal Jacket” and “Independence Day” actor Adam Baldwin tweeted the video with the legend, “Your current US president, ladies and gentlemen. “

“Why isn’t this guy in a nursing home?” ” someone else wrote.

Biden almost certainly meant that about 350 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine had been administered, as CDC data indicates. But these doses have been administered to around 193 million people. More than 70% of American adults have received at least one injection of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The president also called on the Senate to pass a bipartisan bill on standby infrastructure that would cost an estimated $ 1,000 billion, of which $ 550 billion would be new spending over five years, which the Congressional Budget Office said would add $ 256 billion to the federal deficit over the next 10 years. The bill could go through the Senate this weekend.

“As we have done with the transcontinental railroad and the interstate highway system, we will soon transform America again and propel us into the future,” he said.

Biden did not answer reporters’ questions either in the East Room or when he left the White House shortly after for a weekend in Wilmington, Del. But his press officers shortlisted reporters who were allowed to attend the president’s remarks in the spacious White House East Room, which at 2,960 square feet is the largest room in the Executive Mansion.

Some outlets, including The Post, have been told that the White House was “unable to accommodate” “due to spacing constraints”, despite the fact that the East Room is much larger than the briefing room. 49 spaces in the White House, where social distancing rules for COVID-19 ended in June.

The continued screening of reporters at East Room events is widely understood as a way to shape the variety of questions that are asked of the often goof-prone Biden.