|
 Biden also announced the United States had donated more than 110
million vaccine doses to 65 countries, but the White House kept its
focus largely on the crisis at home: outbreaks in the two
Republican-led states accounting for an outsized share of rising
cases nationwide.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has opposed strict COVID-19
restrictions. On Friday, he issued an order blocking mask mandates
in the state's schools. Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an order
last spring that would impose fines for mask mandates.
"Some governors aren't willing to do the right thing to beat this
pandemic, and they should allow businesses and universities who want
to do the right thing to be able to do it," Biden said, without
referencing the two men by name.
"I say to these governors ... if you're not going to help, at least
get out of the way."
Asked later if DeSantis and Abbott were making calls that harmed
their citizens, Biden said: "I believe the results of their
decisions are not good for their constituents."
One in three new COVID-19 cases nationwide occurred in Florida and
Texas in the past week, White House pandemic response coordinator
Jeff Zients told reporters on Monday.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the White House was in
discussions with both states about offering help to address the
problem.
As of Saturday there were about 72,000 new COVID-19 cases per day in
the United States, a 44% increase over the previous week, according
to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
New York City will require proof of COVID-19 vaccination at
restaurants, gyms and other businesses, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on
Tuesday. Biden urged other cities and localities to do the same.
INTERNATIONAL PUSH
Biden said the U.S. donation of vaccines outstripped efforts by
other countries such as Russia and China.
[to top of second column] |
He said the United States would continue to give tens of millions of
doses away across the summer.
"We're doing this to save lives and to end this pandemic. That's
it," he said.
In late August, the United States will also start shipping 500
million doses of Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE's vaccine to 100
lower-income countries, the White House said in a statement earlier
in the day.
Advocates believe the United States could be sharing even more.
"We could give away lots of what we have and still be fine," said
Gregg Gonsalves, assistant professor of epidemiology of microbial
diseases at the Yale School of Public Health.
Helping the rest of the world would benefit the United States in its
domestic fight as well, he added.
"If we don't control it everywhere, we're not going to control it
anywhere," Gonsalves said.
COVAX, backed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global
Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, seeks to secure two billion
COVID-19 vaccine doses for countries in need by the year's end.
In June, a WHO official said many nations did not have enough doses
to continue vaccination efforts or had simply run out.
The White House on Tuesday said it would work with COVAX and other
regional partners to ensure the donated vaccines were equitably
delivered.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Jeff Mason and Susan Heavey; Editing
by Bernadette Baum, Bill Berkrot and Karishma Singh)
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