White House press secretary Jen Psaki laid blame on unvaccinated Americans for the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During his campaign for the presidency, President Joe Biden promised to “shut down the virus,” furthermore calling former President Donald Trump’s travel restrictions against China “xenophobic.”
“What ever happened to President [Joe] Biden’s promise to shut down the virus?” Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked Wednesday.
“We’re working on it, Peter,” Psaki said.
“There’s another variant here, is the idea that you want people to wrap their heads around that the president, instead of shutting down the virus, is gonna try to help people amidst the virus?” Doocy pressed.
Psaki shifted the blame onto Americans when she answered by saying that life cannot go back to normal until at least 20 percent of the American population has been fully vaccinated against the COVID virus and also received a booster dose.
“What we can do, as the federal government, is make those vaccines free, make the boosters free, make them available. The president will talk more about what we’re going to do tomorrow,” Psaki said. “But we need the American people to do more, who are not vaccinated to help us continue to fight the virus.”
According to a CDC report, 59% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated, and 21% have received a booster shot.
The recent emergence of the Omicron variant recently discovered in South Africa prompted the Biden administration to implement travel restrictions on South Africa and Botswana. Monday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the first positive case in the U.S. only days after Dr. Angelique Coetzee, chair of the South African Medical Association, warned that the variant had already reached the U.S.
During an address Monday, Biden urged the public to get the vaccine and booster shots, insisting that it is the most effective way for people to ensure protection against the virus. Biden promised to fight against the newly identified variant while urging people not to panic, on the other hand this is not the first promise the president has made concerning the virus.
