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 "Look, it's real simple. We have a pandemic for those who haven't
gotten a vaccination. It's that basic, that simple," Biden said at a
town-hall event in Ohio that was broadcast on CNN.
"Ten thousand people have recently died. Nine thousand nine hundred
and fifty of them, thereabouts, are people who hadn't been
vaccinated," he said.
Biden fielded roughly a dozen questions from Democrats and
Republicans about the economy and crime, infrastructure and the
filibuster, in a Cincinnati district that Trump won by a heavy
margin. The entire audience was vaccinated, the news network noted.
Swiftly rising coronavirus cases across the United States and abroad
have fueled fears of a resurgent pandemic and rattled stock markets
as the highly contagious Delta variant appears to be taking hold.
Many of the new U.S. outbreaks are in parts of the country where
COVID-19 vaccinations have lagged. The White House's vaccination
efforts have met waves of disinformation and skepticism.
Biden expressed optimism that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) may approve new vaccines for children under 12 as soon as the
end of August, ahead of previous estimates.
"My expectation talking to the group of scientists we put together
... is that sometime maybe in the beginning of the school year, at
the end of August, beginning of September, October, they'll get a
final approval," Biden said.
He also said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) would likely issue guidance encouraging children who have not
been vaccinated against the coronavirus to wear masks in schools.
INFRASTRUCTURE, INFLATION
Biden that the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal he
struck last month will eventually get passed because Republicans
will stick to the bargain.
The fate of the deal, one of the president's top priorities, is
uncertain in Congress where Democrats hold slim majorities.
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 "You had up to 20 Republicans
sign the letter saying we think we need this
deal. We think we need this deal. ... I come
from a tradition in the Senate, you shake your
hand, that's it," said Biden, a longtime
senator.
He said concerns about inflation, as pent-up
demand combined with supply-side challenges
pushes up prices for consumer goods, were
temporary.
"The vast majority of the experts, including
Wall Street, are suggesting that it's highly
unlikely that it's going to be long-term
inflation that's going to get out of hand,"
Biden said.
Asked by the host, Don Lemon, why he wanted to
protect the filibuster, which requires 60
senators to advance certain bills in Congress,
Biden said he thought repealing it would throw
the "entire Congress into chaos and nothing will
get done."
Voter turnout is going to overcome the impact of
a wave voting restrictions, Biden seemed to
suggest, saying "More people voted last time
than any time in American history in the middle
of the worst pandemic in history...They're going
to show up again."
No matter the party, there is only one way to
view the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol by Trump
supporters, he added.
"I don't care if you think I'm Satan
reincarnated, the fact is you can't look at that
television and say nothing happened on the 6th"
of January, Biden said. "You can't listen to
people who say this was a peaceful march."
Biden also promised the crowd - to some of the
loudest applause of that night - that he would
"fix that damn bridge of yours," a reference to
the local Brent Spence bridge that his two
predecessors had also pledged without success to
repair.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Jarrett Renshaw;
Editing by Heather Timmons and Peter Cooney)
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