President Biden said Thursday he will direct all states, tribes, and territories to make American adults eligible for the coronavirus vaccine by the beginning of May.
“Tonight, I’m announcing that I will direct all states, tribes, and territories, to make all adults, people 18 and over, eligible to be vaccinated no later than May one,” he said during his first primetime presidential address:
Let me say that again: All adult Americans will be eligible to get a vaccine no later than May one. That’s much earlier than expected. Let me be clear, that doesn’t mean everyone is going to have that shot immediately, but it means you’ll be able to get in line beginning May one. Every adult will be eligible to get their shot. To do this, we’re gonna go from a million shots a day that I promised in December, before I was sworn in, to maintaining beating our current pace of two million shots a day, outpacing the rest of the world.
The announcement comes after Congress passed the $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus package.
During an interview Thursday on MSNBC’s The Beat, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden will announce it is possible the nation could be “closer to normal” by July 4.
However, in order to do so, Psaki claimed, “we’re going to have to keep our masks on, socially distance,” and also receive the vaccine.
In his address, Biden appeared to blame former President Donald Trump for the number of coronavirus deaths, according to Breitbart News.
“But by March 11, 2020, President Trump had already taken many decisive actions against the coronavirus,” the article read.
“And while he was wrong when he suggested that the pandemic would be over quickly, and admitted downplaying its impact so people would not panic, Trump was never silent about COVID-19, nor did he deny that it posed serious risks to Americans’ public health,” it concluded.