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Covid-19 need not control lives anymore: Biden
He said that the US would continue to combat the virus and stay on guard, and announced a four-point plan moving forward
Washington: Acknowledging that the past two years had been among the “hardest years” in America’s history, United States (US) president Joe Biden, in his first State of the Union speech, said that the country had now reached a “new moment” in the fight against Covid-19. He said the disease no longer needed to control lives, and most Americans in most of the country could now be “mask-free”.
Rejecting the premise that one had to just “live with Covid-19”, Biden said that the US would continue to combat the virus and stay on guard, and announced a four-point plan moving forward – with a focus on vaccines and treatments, preparing for new variants, ending the shutdown of schools and businesses, and vaccinating the rest of the world.
Biden’s position on the current moment in the battle against the pandemic comes at a time when political divisions around the use of masks and the closure of schools have sharpened, with Republicans having earned electoral dividends from the issue in recent elections such as the gubernatorial race in Virginia. In recent weeks, Democratic governors in various states have lifted mask mandates.
“For more than two years, Covid-19 has impacted every decision in our lives and the life of the nation. I know you are tired, frustrated, and exhausted. But I also know this. Because of the progress we have made…we are moving forward safely, back to more normal routines. We have reached a new moment in the fight against Covid-19.” The US president said that the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention had issued new mask guidelines recently, under which most Americans in most of the country could be mask free, and the rest of the US would reach that point soon.
“I know some are talking about ‘living with Covid-19’. I say that we will never just accept living with Covid-19. We will continue to combat the virus as we do other diseases. And because this is a virus that mutates and spreads, we will stay on guard.”
Biden announced that the administration would take four “common sense” steps.
The first step was focusing on vaccines and treatments, with Biden highlighting the efficacy of vaccines and declaring that they would “never give up” on vaccinating more Americans. With a nod towards parents with kids under five, the president said that scientists were working hard to get vaccines authorised for children in that age group. He also highlighted the role of anti-viral treatments, pointing out that a Pfizer pill reduced chances of a Covid-19 patient from getting hospitalised by 90%.
After having faced criticism for being ill-prepared on the testing front during the Omicron surge, the US president reminded citizens that the administration had made hundreds of millions of tests available for free.
The second step was preparing for new variants. Biden said that over the past year, they had got “much better” at detecting new variants. “I cannot promise a new variant won’t come but I can promise that we will do everything within our power to be ready if it does.”
The third step, Biden said, was ending the shutdown of schools and businesses. “We have the tools we need. It is time for Americans to get back to work and fill our great downtowns again. People working from home can feel safe to begin to return to the office.” The US president said that schools were open. “Let’s keep it that way. Our kids need to be in school.” He pointed out that with 75% of adult Americans fully vaccinated, most Americans could remove their masks, return to work, stay in the classroom, and move forward safely. This, however, was possible due to free vaccines, testing, treatment, and masks – for which, Biden reminded the Congress, he would need more money.
And the final step, Biden said, was to continue to vaccinate the world. Saying that the US had sent 475 million vaccine doses to 112 countries, more than any other nation, the US president said this effort would continue.
Addressing the political faultline that Covid-19 has become in the US, Biden said, “We have lost so much to Covid-19. Time with one another. And worst of all, so much loss of life. Let’s use this moment to reset. Let’s stop looking at Covid-19 as a partisan dividing line and see it for what it is: A God-awful disease.”
