President Joe Biden said the United States remains locked in a life-and-death race with the coronavirus pandemic, with cases and deaths increasing in some places, even as he offered fresh hope with news that some 80% of school staff have been vaccinated.
He delivered an update on progress against the disease on Tuesday afternoon and announced he was changing the date for every adult to be eligible from May 1 to April 19.
His televised address followed the pattern of recent speeches, mixing good news with warnings that more needed to be done — or “the straight scoop, straight from the shoulder,” as he put it.
“Let me be deadly earnest with you: We aren’t at the finish line,” he said. “We still have a lot of work to do.”
“We’re still in a life-and-death race against this virus. Until we get more people vaccinated, we need everyone to wash their hands, socially distance, and mask up in a recommended mask from the CDC.”
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Biden made his announcement at the White House after visiting a vaccination site at Immanuel Chapel at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria. He thanked medical staff for delivering immunizations and the people turning up to receive them.
“That’s the way to beat this,” he said. “Get the vaccination when you can.”
He also tried to allay fears about new strains that are driving an increase in cases.
“All these strains you’re hearing about. You should not worry,” he said. “They are more virulent. They are … more dangerous, but the vaccines work on all of them.”
Earlier, the White House announced that 28 million doses of vaccine will be delivered to states this week. Press secretary Jen Psaki said it meant more than 90 million doses had been delivered during the past three weeks.
About a dozen states said they were opening eligibility to all people over 16 years old on Monday. New Jersey and Oregon said they would follow suit on April 19.
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The virus has killed more than 550,000 people in the U.S.
