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 In a forceful but somber speech from the White House on the first
anniversary of the pandemic lockdown, Biden said if Americans pulled
together there could be a greater sense of normalcy - and some
backyard barbecue parties with small groups - on the U.S.
Independence Day holiday on July 4.
That date is a new goal for the president and a projection of hope
amid a pandemic that has killed more than 530,000 people in the
United States, the most of any country.
To achieve his summer target, Biden said he needed Americans' help.
"If we don't stay vigilant and the conditions change, then we may
have to reinstate restrictions to get back on track," he said in an
evening address from the White House, his first in television prime
time since becoming president.
"We've made so much progress. This is not the time to let up. Just
as we are emerging from a dark winter into a hopeful spring and
summer is not the time to not stick with the rules," he said.
Republicans swiftly criticized Biden for his cautious approach.
"What America needs now is to fully reopen our economy and our
classrooms," House of Representatives Republican leader Kevin
McCarthy said on Twitter.
Biden said he was ordering U.S. states, territories and tribes to
make all adults eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine by May 1.
The White House has said it would have enough vaccine supply to
vaccinate the adult population by the end of May. About 10% of
Americans so far have been fully vaccinated.
Administration officials said he would deploy 4,000 more troops to
help with the vaccine effort, bringing the total number to 6,000.
The White House is also seeking to expand the pool of people able to
administer shots to include dentists, optometrists, paramedics,
veterinarians and medical students.
Biden campaigned last year on a promise that he would tackle the
pandemic more effectively than Republican President Donald Trump,
and he has sought to encourage and model behavior, such as
mask-wearing, that Trump eschewed.
In his speech, Biden took a swipe at his predecessor by saying the
virus was initially met with "denials for days, weeks, then months,
that led to more deaths, more infections, more stress, more
loneliness."
Biden said hate crimes and harassment against Asian Americans must
stop. Trump repeatedly referred to the disease as the "China virus."
Biden also encouraged Americans to keep up mitigation efforts -
wearing masks, keeping social distance and practicing good hygiene -
to stop the virus and its variants from spreading. A number of
states have been loosening restrictions as Americans, like many
people around the world, grow weary of pandemic life.
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"Photos and videos from 2019 feel like they were taken in another
era. The last vacation. The last birthday with friends. The last
holiday with extended family," Biden said, recounting the toll the
virus has wrought.
He said the country would come away from the crisis stronger. "We
faced and overcame one of the toughest and darkest periods in this
nation's history - darkest we've ever known," he said.
POLITICAL VICTORY
Earlier in the day, Biden signed the American Rescue Plan, designed
to be a financial bridge to hard-hit Americans and a boost to the
economy, in the Oval Office with Vice President Kamala Harris at his
side. The $1.9 trillion package is a major political victory for the
Democratic president fewer than two months into his administration.
Biden and top members of his administration will embark on a victory
lap in the coming weeks to laud and explain the legislation, which
got final approval from the U.S. House of Representatives on
Wednesday.
The package provides $400 billion for $1,400 direct payments to most
Americans, $350 billion in aid to state and local governments, an
expansion of the child tax credit and increased funding for COVID-19
vaccine distribution. The bill passed without a single vote from
Republicans, who complained the price tag was too high.
Coronavirus-related lockdowns and restrictions have cost millions of
jobs, and Biden is focused on confronting the economic fallout.
Direct deposits from the legislation would come as early as this
weekend, the White House said.
Biden will discuss the benefits of the pandemic relief bill during
trips to Pennsylvania and Georgia next week.
The lockdown from COVID-19 began under Trump, who played down the
crisis in its early stages while repeatedly predicting the virus
would soon disappear even as his administration pushed to speed up
vaccine development.
The former president and his wife, Melania Trump, did not appear in
a public service announcement released on Thursday encouraging
COVID-19 vaccinations and featuring all of the other living former
U.S. presidents and their spouses.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Additional reporting by Jarrett Renshaw,
Eric Beech, Susan Heavey and Mohammad Zargham; Editing by Heather
Timmons, Peter Cooney and Gerry Doyle)
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