In view of the threat of Kovid-19 in China, President Joe Biden addressed his country and people this afternoon.
President Joe Biden said that I want to update you all about where we stand on Kovid-19 due to our strategy. We have done more and more vaccination tests, treatments and more in the past year. We are now in a new moment. This success does not mean that COVID-19 is over. This means that we have now got the Kovid-19 epidemic under control.
As we thought new cases are coming to the fore. But now I thank the Foundation. America has the tools to protect its entire people. And, you know, I’ve been there since day one, as we’ve done.
Today I’m announcing the launch of K Vaccines, but a one-stop shop where anyone in the US can find what they need to navigate the virus, free vaccines and boosters for free at home. what is needed. You can get it right away for home tests, high quality masks, and the latest information on the level of COVID-19 spread in your community.
Our new test to test and treat, which I announced at my State of the Union address. These are the pharmacies and other places in your neighborhood where you can get tested. And if you’re positive, you can get life-saving treatment, all at once. We have already stood up.
2,000 test and street sites test and treat sites across the country. We are even closer, we have about 200 sites only to serve military families and veterans communities. We’ve done what we’ve done during the pandemic, we’ve made sure these places are the hardest, as well as the hardest to reach communities.
He said that let me remind you that when I took office about 14 months ago. The pandemic was raging, the economy was crumbling and the deficit was increasing. Most schools remained closed. We didn’t have enough vaccines, unemployment claims were sky high and then we got work and we gave enough vaccines for every American.
Effective treatment at home tests which are free and accessible in more than 99% of our schools are open a few months ahead of schedule. Again, businesses are open, and the way we responded, we created more jobs last year than ever before.
Six decimal seven million jobs! And by the way, we did so while cutting the deficit from the largest deficit reduction in one year in US history.
We weren’t able to do that because we coordinated with state and local leaders, with government partners, on both sides of the corridors and the private sector. To take advantage of every resource. We had to fight this virus. We left no stone unturned and we were able to do so because Congress works with us and provides us with the necessary funds. But should we again reach the turning point in this fight?
The United States has to provide the money it needs to continue to fight COVID-19. While we are there, we are already seeing the consequences of Congress’ inaction. For example, they have helped save lives. It is not biased. It’s a drug, but Congress hasn’t given them enough money to buy monoclonal antibodies.
We had to cancel orders, planned, and were sending to states without cutting supplies and more money would start running out of them. By the end of May, we’ve also had to backtrack on our plan to buy more preventive treatments for Americans who are critical tools to protect the most vulnerable among us.
Free, easily accessible, for all Americans, even better. In case we need a different vaccine for future battles, a newer version. We will have enough money to buy it. We cannot let this happen. Congress, we need to secure additional supplies now. Now, we can’t wait, as we find ourselves in the midst of another boom to act, by then it will be too late. And we need it too, with funding commitments to continue our efforts to vaccinate the world.
We’ve made it important to our ability to protect against new variants. There is no wall. You can build a virus high enough to keep Congress out. Please take action now. close me with this. I have worked very hard to get my life. We work so hard. We all have worked very hard to get our life back. We are calling every ounce of American resilience, goodness, decency, and the patriotism of the American people together at every level of our government. We have turned an unimaginable pain into an extraordinary progress and purpose.
Americans are back to living their lives. again. We cannot surrender that now Congress, please act, you have to act immediately. The consequences of inaction are dire. Only increases with time, but it doesn’t have to be. We proved what we can do when we work together. That’s why I urge Democrats and Republicans to do this urgently. Let’s Stand United. Let’s continue to draw together.