Biden will receive a briefing from his Covid-19 response team and then outline the five key areas his administration is focused on as it works to get more Americans vaccinated and protect the population against the highly transmissible Delta variant.
Just over 67% of American adults have had at least one Covid-19 vaccine and more than 157 million Americans are fully vaccinated as of Tuesday morning, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Biden’s goal was to have 70% of Americans with at least one shot and 160 million Americans fully vaccinated by July 4.
The President will address Tuesday his administration’s targeted outreach to provide Americans with information about the safety and efficacy of the vaccines, getting vaccines to more primary care doctors and other health care providers and stepping up efforts to get vaccines to pediatricians and other providers who serve younger people so that adolescents ages 12 to 18 can get vaccinated as they go for check ups ahead of returning to school.
Biden will also discuss expanding mobile clinic efforts and making Covid-19 vaccines more accessible for workers by setting up vaccination clinics at work and helping to secure paid time off for employees, according to the official.
Biden will also stress how the administration will continue to work with governors, local leaders and across the public and private sector to get more Americans vaccinated.
White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters last week that he expects the US to hit its July 4 goals in weeks and said the US has more work to do to get younger Americans — particularly 18- to 26-year-olds — vaccinated. Zients told CNN on Sunday the federal government would continue to make it easier for for the public to be vaccinated and the nation to increase the vaccination rate.
Despite falling just short of his goals, the President spent the weekend touting the progress the nation has made in its fight against the pandemic. The President and first lady hosted their biggest party yet at the White House and welcomed 1,000 essential workers and military personnel on the South Lawn to mark Independence Day.
But the celebration came at a time when federal officials are warning about the Delta variant and doubling down on getting the rest of the US population vaccinated and protected.
In a sign of the heightened concern about the Delta variant, the White House recently announced it would be deploying response teams made up of officials from the CDC, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency across the US to areas with a high spread of the virus because of the Delta variant and low vaccination rates. The teams will conduct surge testing, provide therapeutics like monoclonal antibodies and deploy federal personnel to areas that need support staff for vaccinations.
In another sign the pandemic is far from over, officials also said the administration plans to extend the public health emergency declaration for the pandemic that former President Donald Trump announced in 2020 when it’s due to expire this month.
Earlier this year, the administration said 90% of Americans live within five miles of a vaccination site.