Even though COVID-19 has mutated several times, President Biden is implementing a strategy to get the United States out of the pandemic. The secondary goals of the program are to keep schools open and safe, and protecting the economy from lockdowns.
Vaccinating the Unvaccinated
One of the reasons why the total number of infections and deaths have been on the decline since January is that the Biden Administration has expanded access to vaccines for all Americans. It has been available for Americans who are 16-years-old and older since April, and to those at least 12 years of age since May. The Administration made the vaccines available at more than 80,000 locations nationwide, at no cost.
The Biden Administration has implemented science-based strategies at the White House, halls of Congress, Supreme Court and other government owned areas. They have also urged the private sector to promote vaccines as viable, trustworthy options to their employees.
Right now the US has 175 million fully-vaccinated people, but there are still 80 million more Americans that need to get vaccinated in order for the country to achieve the milestone of “herd immunity” which would give government and health care facilities the ability to contain the virus.
The President understands that he cannot enforce the unvaccinated to become vaccinated. The only thing within his presidential jurisdiction is to continue to make vaccines more available and encourage the unvaccinated by giving accurate, science-based information that will impact their daily lives.
Although the President is not endorsing policies that mandate that all citizens will have to take the vaccines; however, his Administration’s plan includes the following: requiring all employers with 100+ employees to ensure their employees are vaccinated or tested weekly, requiring vaccinations for all Federal workers and for millions of contractors that do business with the Federal government, requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for more than 17 million health care workers at Medicare and Medicaid participating hospitals and facilities, calling on large entertainment venues to require proof of vaccination or testing for entry, and requiring employers to provide paid time off in order to get vaccinated.
There is also a taskforce that is working on the possibility of the need for vaccinated Americans to receive booster shots should the mutating variants require different antibodies in order to be contained.
While COVID-19 is continuing to spread throughout the US, the Biden Administration has a strong plan on how to contain it. The issue with containing the virus concerns the ideas that Americans have regarding vaccine usage. Some people are still very skeptical about the idea of using the vaccine. Others are making the choice not to receive the vaccine based on misinformation. The great challenge is that the Administration needs to find a way for these 80 million unvaccinated Americans to put their personal safety, as well as their families and community safety first by receiving one of the vaccines. This is within the grasp of the government to achieve, but it is going to take a considerable effort from them, health care facilities and partnering organizations from the private sector and non-profits in order to ensure that 80 million more Americans receive truthful information about how the vaccine can improve their quality of life during the pandemic going forward.