President Biden will use his first prime-time address Thursday to announce a coming directive to states that they make all adults eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine by May 1.
But his revealing the missive to states will come with a warning to people that becoming eligible for the first inoculation jab will not necessarily mean they will get one faster. It will, however, mean they will be one step closer.
“It won’t be an automatic thing,” a senior administration official told reporters a couple hours before Biden’s planned 8 p.m. address on his virus response and what he intends as next steps in combating the year-old crisis. “This depends on the American people doing their part.”
That means Biden will again urge the public to continue wearing masks, remaining 6 feet apart, and following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines — even as some states, including Texas and Mississippi, end business restrictions and nix mask mandates.
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The president will use his East Room address to announce the eligibility directive, which officials said falls under legal authorities vested in the Department of Health and Human Services, to talk about the possibility of a “more independent Independence Day” than the country had in 2020.
If people get vaccinated as soon as they are eligible and continue to follow COVID-19 guidelines, Biden will say they can gather for the country’s annual birthday bash “in small groups.”
Biden is expected to “level” with the country about what he and his team believe is needed from it to continue trying to return to pre-COVID-19 life. He will use a “more normal Fourth of July” as something of a reward — if vaccination shots are obtained and safety protocols are followed.
He also will announce federal efforts to help double the number of pharmacies putting inoculations into arms, as well as a new effort intended to expand the number of mobile pharmacies doing the same.
What’s more, the president will also describe his administration’s plans to set up more “mass vaccination centers” across the country.
But facilities giving out vaccine doses would not alone be enough to speed a return to normalcy, the officials told reporters. That’s why Biden will announce an initiative to get more dentists, paramedics, physician assistants, and medical and healthcare students certified to put needles into flesh.
Biden also will lay out federal help to states and local governments on websites and other technologies people can use to locate facilities near them that have vaccines on hand. If those governments struggle, the president will announce “technology teams” his administration will deploy to help them deal with those problems.
One of the senior officials said the efforts Biden will describe in his address are, collectively, a “small step.”
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“If we all do our part,” that official said, “we’ll be in a much better place by July Fourth.”
