September 10, 2021 – President Joe Biden addressed the nation on Thursday night with his new Pandemic Exit Plan, a six-point program to put the country on track to defeat COVID-19, mainly through more vaccine mandates. increased requirements for testing and masking.
The new plan will require vaccination for approximately two-thirds of the country’s workforce, or 100 million workers.
The United States currently registers an average of 150,000 new cases and 1,500 deaths each day, CNN reports.
“If we raise the level of vaccination, protect ourselves and others with camouflage and advanced testing, and identify infected people, we can and will reverse COVID-19,” Biden said in a speech.
There was a wide reaction at various points in the president’s new plan.
Vaccination of the unvaccinated
More than 175 million Americans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, but more than 80 million eligible Americans have not been vaccinated.
The president said it was extremely important that more than the unvaccinated population be vaccinated if we wanted to defeat the virus completely.
To encourage this, he signed executive orders for additional vaccine mandates.
Employers with more than 100 employees must require vaccination against COVID-19 or a weekly worker survey.
The new plan also requires vaccinations for federal workers and millions of federal government executors, as well as vaccination mandates for more than 17 million health workers in hospitals and clinics involved in Medicare and Medicaid.
Some people said they would probably quit their jobs because of the new vaccine mandates.
But others are trying to remind people that weekly tests are still an option for many unvaccinated Americans.
As the hashtag #IwillNOTComply appeared on Twitter after Biden’s speech, many commented that they would be happy to take on the work of those protesting against the mandates.
Additional protection of vaccinated
Biden said his administration would be ready to offer accelerated photos of COVID-19 as early as Sept. 20, subject to FDA and CDC approval.
The president’s plan says boosters will be free and available in more than 80,000 locations across the country, in places such as doctors’ offices, pharmacies and other health centers.
“The decision on which booster shots to give, when to start, and who will give them will be left entirely to scientists at the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control,” Biden said. “But while we waited, we did our part. We’ve bought enough boosters – enough booster photos – and the distribution system is ready to administer them. ”
Many expressed relief at receiving a third dose of vaccine.
While others remain confused about the science behind boosters and vaccines against COVID-19.
Maintaining safe open schools
The president’s plan adds new vaccination mandates and school safety measures to provide a safe, personal learning environment for students, teachers and staff.
Ninety percent of teachers and staff in the country have been vaccinated, Biden said.
The vaccines are currently approved for children over 12 years of age.
“How about children under the age of 12 who still can’t be vaccinated? Well, the best way for a parent to protect their child under 12 starts at home. “Every parent, every young brother or sister, every caregiver around them needs to be vaccinated,” Biden said.
His plan will require vaccinations for teachers and staff in the Start-up and Early Start-up programs and the Bureau of Indian Schools Managed by Education, as well as staff in children’s and youth programs at the Ministry of Defense.
“As in adults, almost all of the serious cases of COVID-19 that we see in adolescents are in unvaccinated children aged 12 to 17, an age group that lags behind in the number of vaccinations,” Biden said. “So, parents, please vaccinate your teenager.”
Some parents have expressed consolation that they are sending their children to schools with COVID-19 safety measures in place.
While other parents find personal learning too risky at the moment.
Increased requirements for testing and mask
Biden has made it clear that even with the new mandates for vaccination, masking and testing of COVID-19 are still as critical as ever.
The president’s plan says that along with the more aggressive production of rapid tests for COVID-19, home tests will cost less by the end of the week and the free COVID-19 testing program in pharmacies will be expanded.
Biden said camouflage requirements would continue to exist at airports, as well as for certain forms of public transport, such as planes and buses.
But with the new plan, those who do not comply will face double fines.
Despite higher fines, some say travel mandates are difficult to enforce.
Protecting our economic recovery
To prevent the nation’s economic progress from receding, the president announced the expansion of COVID-19 disaster loan programs for economic injuries.
The program will now allow small businesses to borrow up to $ 2 million, up from the original $ 500,000, to help with money problems caused by the pandemic.
The loans have a low interest rate and do not require repayment for 2 years.
Improving care for people with COVID-19
The president also announced that the defense ministry would double the number of military medical teams sent to help hospitals across the country.
Biden said new drugs would be increasingly available and recommended by “real doctors, not conspiracy theorists.”
“Monoclonal antibody treatment has been shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization by up to 70% for unvaccinated people at risk for severe disease,” Biden said. “Tonight, I announce that we will increase the average rate of nationwide delivery of free monoclonal antibody treatments by another 50%.”