Telling Americans "you’re owed nothing less than the truth," President Joe Biden on Thursday unveiled a plan to accelerate COVID-19 vaccinations across the country and get the U.S. economy back on track.
"A year ago, we were hit with a virus that was met with silence and spread unchecked, denials for days, weeks, then months," Biden started. "That led to more deaths, more infections, more stress and more loneliness."
His address came on the one-year anniversary the country’s first coronavirus-related health restrictions and the World Health Organization’s declaration of a pandemic, once-important moments that feel like a lifetime ago.
Exactly one year ago, then-President Donald Trump also spoke to the nation from the White House, instituting a ban on travel from Europe in his remarks.
Outlining his plan to vaccinate every American, the president directed the states, tribes and territories to make all adults eligible for vaccines by May 1. The timeline, buoyed by federal orders of vaccine shipments, represents another acceleration of previous goals set by the Biden administration for a return to normal.
The announcement included an expansion of those able to administer shots, locations for doing so and a deployment of 4,000 active-duty troops to assist.
The country will be closer to normal by the Fourth of July, Biden added, saying "there's a good chance" Americans to be able to gather in small groups for the nation’s birthday. "We'll not only mark our independence as a nation, we'll begin to mark our independence from this virus," he said.
Nearly 530,000 Americans have died from complications related to COVID-19.
"They leave behind loved ones, unable to truly grieve or have a funeral," Biden added, also mentioning those Americans who died in the last year from causes not related to the pandemic.
Thus far, nearly 99 million people in the U.S. have gotten one or two doses of a vaccine. Biden said he expected his administration to beat his goal of 100 million vaccines in his first 100 days, doing so in his first 60 days in office.
In the speech, Biden’s first nighttime address to the country as president, the president also spoke strongly on "vicious hate crimes against Asian Americans, who have been attacked, harassed, blamed and scapegoated."
"It’s wrong, it's un-American and it must stop," Biden said emphatically, referencing the surge in anti-Asian incidents that has gripped the country.
On the eve of Biden’s speech, his predecessor was eager to remind Americans of his efforts to produce a COVID-19 vaccine record time.
Earlier Thursday, President Biden signed a $1.9 trillion relief package aimed at stimulating the economy. Included in the package are much-needed $1,400 checks for millions of Americans, which White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday could start appearing in bank accounts "as soon as this weekend."
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