FRIDAY, March 12, 2021 (HealthDay News) — During a speech reassuring Americans that the pandemic could be nearing its end in this country, President Joe Biden on Thursday promised that all U.S. adults will be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine by May 1.
His remarks came on the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring COVID-19 to be a pandemic. Biden said his administration’s $1.9 trillion stimulus bill is about to shore up the U.S. economy, the pace of vaccinations is rapidly accelerating, and COVID-19 death rates are dropping nationwide.
Americans are on track to return to some sort of normalcy by July 4 as long as they get vaccinated and do not prematurely abandon mask wearing, social distancing, and other measures to contain the spread of the virus, he predicted. “July 4th with your loved ones is the goal,” Biden said. But “just as we were emerging from a dark winter into a hopeful spring and summer is not the time to not stick with the rules,” he added. “This is not the time to let up.”
To back up his promise, Biden started with a requirement that all states act by May 1 to make all adults eligible to be vaccinated. The administration had already announced last week that it would have enough doses for every adult by the end of May. Biden said Thursday that Americans should expect to get in line for a vaccine by May 1.
He said the federal government would also create a website that would allow Americans to search for available vaccines, make the vaccine available at more pharmacies, double the number of mass vaccination sites, and certify more people — including dentists, paramedics, veterinarians, and physician assistants — to deliver shots into arms, The New York Times reported.
Copyright © 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
