President Joe Biden emphasized the importance of getting vaccinated against COVID-19 after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised people who have already rolled up their sleeves no longer need to wear a mask.
“It’s a great milestone, a great day,” Biden said Thursday at the White House, walking out of the executive mansion and into the Rose Garden without a face covering.
Biden touted the country’s COVID-19 hospitalization rate and death count, both of which are at their lowest points since April 2020, as well as his administration’s vaccination effort.
But in a detour from his celebratory tone, Biden referenced the more than 580,000 people who have died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.
Biden also acknowledged enforcement issues regarding the CDC’s new COVID-19 rules as states oppose ideas such as “vaccine passports.”
“It’s not an enforcement thing. We’re not going to go out and arrest people,” he told a reporter who asked about how his administration would react to unvaccinated people also losing their face covers.
CHENEY OUSTER POINTS TO ROUGH TIME FOR BIDEN AFTER MIDTERM ELECTIONS
Hours before Biden walked into the Rose Garden, the CDC overhauled its mask-wearing guidance for people fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The federal health agency recommended that immunized people did not have to cover their faces or socially distance indoors or outdoors, except in certain situations, including on public transport and in health and care facilities.
Like Biden, White House officials were quick to adopt the guidelines, taking off their masks to finish their workdays on the executive campus.
At the same time, the administration is still working toward its goal of vaccinating at least 70% of adults with one shot by July 4 so the country can stop the spread of COVID-19 through herd immunity. Roughly 118 million people, or 36% of the population, have been inoculated against the virus. Public health experts suspect 70% to 85% of the population needs to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity against the respiratory illness.
“As great as this announcement is today, we don’t want to let up,” Biden said. “The safest thing for the country is for everyone to get vaccinated.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Biden has voiced skepticism that partisan COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy will pose a problem to his administration’s target as his aides look to help other countries with their pandemic responses.
“The truth of the matter is, more and more and more people are getting the vaccine. I’ve never believed that there would be a large percentage of Americans who wouldn’t get the vaccine,” Biden told MSNBC this week.
