Biden says US will ‘in all likelihood’ see more guidelines, restrictions amid rising Covid cases

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“And by the way, we had a good day yesterday,” Biden told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House before leaving for Camp David, referring to what he said was an encouraging number of people who were vaccinated Thursday.

Pressed Friday to see if the United States is heading for more lockdowns amid rising cases, White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters: “The way we see the thing is, we have the tools in our tool belt to fight this, this, that variant, ”adding,“ we’re not going to head into a lockdown. ”

“Our goal is to make sure that we don’t move towards this – that won’t be the direction we take, because we have the tools to prevent this,” Jean-Pierre said, highlighting the availability of free vaccines. Across the country.

The administration’s comments come as a new study, released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday, shows that the variant produces similar amounts of virus in both vaccinated and unvaccinated people if infected. . The discovery “was a crucial discovery leading to the CDC’s updated mask recommendation,” CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said on Friday.

The CDC’s study and updated mask guidance came as part of the Biden administration’s additional efforts to mitigate the spread of the Delta variant.

Biden on Thursday announced a number of new measures his administration will take to try to get more Americans vaccinated, including requiring all federal employees to attest to being vaccinated against Covid-19 or to be subject to strict protocols.

In his most harsh approach to the matter to date, the President bluntly argued that if you are not vaccinated, “you present a problem for yourself, for your family and for those you work with.”

The vaccination requirement for federal employees marked a turning point, far from encouraging Americans to get vaccinated at their own pace, to shifting the blame for the continuing pandemic onto unvaccinated people.

The administration also announced additional incentives for vaccines, such as extending paid time off for employees who take time off to get vaccinated and have their family members vaccinated. The president called on states, territories and local governments to do more to push for vaccinations, including offering Americans $ 100 to get vaccinated, paid for with US bailout funding. In addition, he has asked school districts across the country to host pop-up vaccination clinics in the coming weeks.

The administration however stopped before pursuing a nationwide vaccination requirement, however. Biden said Thursday he was not yet sure whether the federal government had the power to require vaccines, and White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that the The administration was not considering a national requirement.

“It’s not at all an authority that we are exploring,” Zients said.

This story has been updated with general information.

CNN’s Rachel Janfaza, Maegan Vazquez and Michael Nedelman contributed to this report.

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