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Biden outlines plan to get more Americans vaccinated

06 July 2021
Dan Ackermann

President Biden on Tuesday announced the White House's latest plan to get more Americans vaccinated as inoculation numbers slow across the U.S.

Why it matters: Biden said the highly transmissible Delta variant, first detected in India, is responsible for half of the coronavirus cases in the country, and is continuing to grow among the unvaccinated population.

State of play: The president summarized a new strategy to increase vaccinations this summer:

  • Increase targeted, community-by-community, door-to-door outreach to ensure that every person can easily access the vaccine and has all the necessary information on the virus and inoculations.
  • Plan a "renewed emphasis" on getting the vaccine to more primary care doctors and other health care professionals, so that people get inoculated at their own doctor's office.
  • Continued efforts to get vaccines to pediatricians and other providers who serve young people, so that those between the ages of 12 to 18 can get vaccinated "as they go for 'back to school' checks ups or get ready for [physical exams] they need for fall sports," Biden said.
  • Continued effort to ensure vaccines are available for working Americans, making sure that employers have shots available at work, and are able to give paid time-off for employees.
  • Deploy mobile clinic units across the country "to help people at special events, summer festivals, sporting events, as well as places of worship and wherever we can find people gathered," Biden noted.

The president said the administration will mobilize "COVID-19 surge response teams," comprised of experts from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other government agencies.

  • They will work in states that are having issues preventing, detecting and responding to the spread of the Delta variant.

The big picture: Biden's remarks come two days after the Fourth of July, which he had initially set as a deadline to see 70% of the adult U.S. population vaccinated with at least one shot.

  • Approximately 67% received at least one dose by the holiday.

What he's saying: "Please get vaccinated now. It works, it’s free, it’s never been easier, and it's never been more important," Biden said.

"Do it now for yourself and the people you care about, for your neighborhood, for your country. It sounds corny, but it’s a patriotic thing to do."

What to watch: Biden said by the end of the week, the U.S. will have hit the milestone of 160 million fully vaccinated Americans.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.