Biden Celebrates America ‘Coming Back Together’ On 4th Of July

On Sunday, President Joe Biden stepped out to a group of reporters and onlookers on the South Lawn of the White House not only to wish America a happy Independence Day but also to celebrate the successes made against COVID-19.

“This year, the Fourth of July is a day of special celebration, for we are emerging from the darkness of a year of pandemic and isolation, a year of pain, fear, and heartbreaking loss,” he told reporters.

He mentioned that while there remains much work to be done, including persuading more people to get vaccinated and fighting the new Delta variant, America is closer to rising above a deadly virus that has claimed more than 605,000 lives in the nation.

Biden’s goal by the Fourth of July was to have at least 70% of the adult population vaccinated. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the figures fell short reaching 67%. Still, cases and deaths from COVID-19 have been at a record low in recent weeks with about 200 Americans still dying from the coronavirus each day.

Meanwhile, tens of millions of Americans refuse to be vaccinated, largely because of conspiracy theories that have been spread across social media.

In response to those conspiracy theories, and particularly to one that vaccines include a Bluetooth microchip, which began on the popular social media app TikTok, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the CDC, was asked to comment during her interview with CBS This Morning last month.

She told anchor Gayle King then: “That’s ridiculous. We’re not being injected with chips.”

Biden also told reporters on Sunday that he has taken concrete steps to help more people not only get vaccinated but also to get educated about the vaccine. He has sent a large team of infectious disease experts to sites in the nation where cases are on the rise and where vaccination rates are low. Some of those teams have been specifically sent to places in Colorado and Missouri with low vaccination rates.

Biden has also been focused on the economic front. He noted how the country is returning to pre-pandemic times in terms of businesses opening up, travel restrictions easing and more people starting to work in person.