{"id":138548,"date":"2022-03-30T21:36:16","date_gmt":"2022-03-31T04:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=138548"},"modified":"2022-03-30T21:36:16","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T04:36:16","slug":"president-biden-on-the-status-of-the-countrys-fight-against-covid-%e2%81%a019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=138548","title":{"rendered":"President Biden on the Status of the Country\u2019s Fight Against COVID-\u206019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Good afternoon.  Today, I\u2019d like to update you all on where we stand on COVID-19.  Because of the strategy we executed over the past year on vaccinations, testing, treatments, and more, we\u2019re now in a new moment in this pandemic.  It does not mean that COVID-19 is over; it means that COVID-19 no longer controls our lives.  That\u2019s what it means. <\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/X4pd2AGXSWY\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Cases are ticking up as we thought they might.  But now, thanks to the foundation we\u2019ve laid, America has the tools to protect people \u2014 all the people.<\/p>\n<p>And, you know, as we\u2019ve done from day one, my administration is making it easier than ever for Americans to access these tools.<\/p>\n<p>Today, I\u2019m announcing the launch of COVID.gov \u2014 COVID.gov \u2014 a one \u2014 (clears throat) \u2014 excuse me, a one-stop shop where anyone in America can find what they need to navigate the virus: free vaccines and boosters, free at-home tests, high-quality masks.  And for the latest information about the level of COVID-19 spread in your community, you can get that immediately.<\/p>\n<p>Now, you\u2019ll also be able to find our new test-to-treat locations, which I announced in my State of the Union Address.  These are pharmacies and other places in your neighborhood where you can get tested.  And if you\u2019re positive, you can get lifesaving treatments all in one stop.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve already stood up 2,000 test-to-streat [sic] sites \u2014 test-and-treat sites across the country.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re also nearly at \u2014 we have nearly 200 sites just to serve military families and veterans communities as well.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve done \u2014 what we\u2019ve done throughout the pandemic, we\u2019ve ensured there are \u2014 these locations are at the hardest-hit, hardest-to-reach communities as well.<\/p>\n<p>The bottom line: No longer will Americans have to scour the Internet to find vaccines, treatments, tests, or masks.  It\u2019s all there.  And just go visit COVID.gov \u2014 COVID.gov.  <\/p>\n<p>And let me remind you: When I took office about 14 months ago, the pandemic was raging, the economy was reeling, and the deficit was soaring.  Most schools were closed.  We didn\u2019t have enough vaccines.  The unemployment claims were sky high. <\/p>\n<p>And then we got to work, and we delivered: enough vaccines for every American months ahead of schedule, effective treatments, at-home tests that are free and accessible.<\/p>\n<p>Over 99 percent of our schools are open again.  Businesses are open again.  And because of how we responded, we created more jobs last year than ever before \u2014 6.7 million jobs.<\/p>\n<p>And by the way, we did it while cutting the deficit \u2014 the largest one-year deficit reduction in American history.  Say that again: The largest one-year deficit reduction in American history. <\/p>\n<p>But none of that happened by accident.  We were able to do it because we coordinated across the government, partnered with state and local leaders, governors on both sides of the aisle, and the private sector to leverage every resource we had to fight against this virus.<\/p>\n<p>We left no stone unturned.  And we were able to do it because Congress worked with us and provided us the necessary funding.<\/p>\n<p>But now, just as we\u2019ve reached the critical turning point in this fight, Congress has to provide the funding America needs to continue to fight COVID-19.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re alr- \u2014 we\u2019re already seeing the consequences of congressional inaction.  The monoclonal antibod- \u2014 take monoclonal antibodies, for example.  They\u2019ve helped save lives.  This isn\u2019t partisan; it\u2019s medicine.<\/p>\n<p>But Congress hasn\u2019t provided enough money to keep purchasing these monoclonal bo- \u2014 antibodies.  We\u2019ve had to cancel planned orders and cut the supply we\u2019re sending to the states.  Without more funding, we\u2019ll start to run out of them by the end of May \u2014 the end of May.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve also had to scale back our plan to purchase more preventive therapies for Americans who are immunocompromised \u2014 critical tools to protect the most vulnerable among us.  Without more funding, we risk running out of the supply by this fall.<\/p>\n<p>The same is true of testing.  It took months to ramp up our testing capacity.  The Omicron \u2014 we saw how vital \u2014 and with Omicron, we saw how vital it was and [that] we have enough tests on hand to weather the surge.  But without funding, we\u2019re not going to be able to sustain the testing capacity beyond the month of June.  And if we fail to invest, we leave ourselves vulnerable if another wave of the virus hits.<\/p>\n<p>Look, on vaccines \u2014 a most important tool in this fight \u2014 we\u2019re also running a risk.<\/p>\n<p>Yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration \u2014 the FDA \u2014 and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention \u2013- the CDC \u2014 authorized a fourth shot for those 50 years and older.<\/p>\n<p>We know boosters are critical to providing an additional level of protection.  That\u2019s why I plan to get my second booster today right here after I\u2019m done speaking.<\/p>\n<p>If you haven\u2019t gotten your first booster, please don\u2019t wait.  Do it today.<\/p>\n<p>Those who are 50 and older, as well as those who are immunocompromised, can now get it \u2014 get even more protection than they have from the initial first doses.  We have enough supply to give booster shots to those newly eligible individuals.<\/p>\n<p>But if Congress fails to act, we won\u2019t have the supply we need this fall to ensure that shots are available, free, easily accessible for all Americans.<\/p>\n<p>Even worse, if we need a different vaccine for the future to combat a new variant, we\u2019re not going to have enough money to purchase it.  We cannot allow that to happen.<\/p>\n<p>Congress, we need to secure additional supply now.  Now.  We can\u2019t wait until we find ourselves in the midst of another surge to act.  It\u2019ll be too late.<\/p>\n<p>And we also need this \u2014 this funding to continue our efforts to vaccinate the world \u2014 commitments we made.  It\u2019s critical to our ability to protect against new variants.  There\u2019s no wall that you can build high enough to keep out a virus.<\/p>\n<p>Congress needs to act now, please.<\/p>\n<p>Let me close with this: I\u2019ve worked so hard to get our lives \u2014 we\u2019ve worked so hard to \u2014 we, all of us, have worked so hard to get our lives back.  <\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re summoning every ounce of American resilience; pulled every lever of our government; called upon the goodness, decency, and patriotism of the American people; and, together, we turned an unthinkable pain into an extraordinary progress and purpose.  Americans are back to living their lives again.  We can\u2019t surrender that now. <\/p>\n<p>Congress, please act.  You have to act immediately.  The consequences of inaction are severe.  They\u2019ll only grow with time, but it doesn\u2019t have to be that way.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve proven what we can do when we work together.  So, I urge Democrats and Republicans to get this done with urgency.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s stand united.  Let\u2019s continue to pull together.  Let\u2019s get this done.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you.  And God bless you all.  And may God protect our troops.<\/p>\n<p>And now I\u2019m going to get my second booster shot.<br \/>\n(The President moves to a chair to receive the booster shot.)<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not sure why I\u2019m doing it on stage.  Just to prove I\u2019m getting it, I guess.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Mr. President, what is the danger of Putin being left in the dark by his military advisors?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I\u2019m reluctant to comment on that.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Can you comment on the declassified intelligence that he doesn\u2019t trust his military leadership, since it is declassified?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  No, I can\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>(Cross-talk by reporters.)<\/p>\n<p>Q    Mr. President, is the U.S. willing to provide security guarantees to Ukraine as part of peace talks?<\/p>\n<p>Q    (Inaudible.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I\u2019m feeling great.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Is the U.S. willing to provide security guarantees to Ukraine as part of peace talks with Russia?<\/p>\n<p>Q    Mr. President, are you going to extend Title 42?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  We\u2019ll have a decision on that soon.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Mr. President, the difference between rich and poor countries on vaccination, will it impact your \u2014 the fight against COVID here?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I\u2019m sorry \u2014<\/p>\n<p>(Cross-talk by reporters.)<\/p>\n<p>Q    The difference between \u2014 the gap \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Somebody asked about the vaccines, which is relevant.<\/p>\n<p>Q    For kids under five, is there \u2014 are there enough funds to provide them vaccines for free?<\/p>\n<p>(Cross-talk by reporters.)<\/p>\n<p>(The President receives the booster shot.)<\/p>\n<p>Q    How does it feel, Mr. President?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Wonderful.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>No, I have to admit to you, I\u2019ve always thought that it discourages people getting a vaccination when they watch people get a needle in their arm.  So I apologize if I discouraged them.  It didn\u2019t hurt a bit, and I was able to roll my sleeve up.<\/p>\n<p>And thank you all so very much.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Will you meet with Trevor Reed\u2019s parents?  Will you meet with Trevor Reed\u2019s parents, Mr. President, while they\u2019re here in Washington?  They say that you promised them a meeting.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I\u2019m going to see if I can get to see them.  They\u2019re good \u2014<\/p>\n<p>Q    Today?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  They\u2019re good people.  I haven\u2019t \u2014 we\u2019re trying to work that out.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Good afternoon. Today, I\u2019d like to update you all on where we stand on COVID-19. Because of the strategy we executed over the past year on vaccinations, testing, treatments, and more, we\u2019re now in a new moment in this pandemic. It does not mean that COVID-19 is over; it means that COVID-19 no longer [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":138549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-138548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Chrome-Legacy-Window-3302022-92323-PM.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=138548"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138550,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138548\/revisions\/138550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/138549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=138548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=138548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=138548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}