Within three weeks, 90% of American adults will be eligible to receive a Covid-19 vaccine shot at a site within five miles of their home, President Joe Biden announced Monday.
Biden said that by April 19, the number of pharmacies in the federal vaccination program will more than double, to nearly 40,000. Additionally, the federal government will open a dozen new mass vaccination sites, with a special emphasis on reaching minority communities, and launch a new transportation program to provide access to vaccinations for seniors and the disabled.
Cautioning that the “war against Covid-19 is far from won,” Biden also called on states to maintain mask mandates and pause reopenings. “With vaccines, there’s hope, which is a very good thing, to state the obvious. But people are letting up on precautions, which is a very bad thing,” Biden said. “We’re giving up hard-fought, hard-won gains, and as much as we’re doing, America, it’s time to do even more.”
Earlier in the day, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said she was feeling a sense of “impending doom” about the latest increase in Covid cases nationwide. “We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential of where we are and so much reason for hope," Walensky said during a virtual White House briefing. “But right now, I’m scared.”
