June 16, 2021: President Joe Biden wants to imbue Independence Day with new meaning this year by encouraging nationwide celebrations to mark the country’s effective return to normalcy after 16 months of coronavirus pandemic disruption and more than 600,000 lives lost.
The White House is increasingly confident that July 4th will be a milestone in the nation’s recovery, with nearly 70 percent of American adults expected to be vaccinated against the virus before the holiday. Nevertheless, the nation’s recovery rate will be in stark contrast to the world’s efforts to eradicate the virus.
The planned celebration will be the biggest event presided over by Biden and is designed to demonstrate the nation’s victory over the virus as COVID-19 events and deaths have not been seen since day one. ۔ The United States has seen the highest rate of air travel since the outbreak of the epidemic, and schools, businesses and restaurants are rapidly reopening.
To rekindle life before the pandemic, Biden wants to celebrate the fourth of July as the “summer of freedom.” He plans to host the first responders, essential workers and members of the military service and their families for the kitchen on the South Lawn of the White House and to watch the fireworks at the National Mall. More than 1,000 guests are expected, officials said.
The plan has seen a dramatic change in thinking since Biden cautiously hoped just three months ago that people would move up to fourth place in smaller spaces. For most Americans, this inaugural target was targeted by the weekend of Memorial Day last month.
Now, officials say July 4 will serve as a new unofficial kick-off in response to the US epidemic. The federal government is working to turn this page on the domestic public health crisis and focus on providing economic and civic rehabilitation at home and support for vaccines around the world.
The White House hopes to see similar Independence Day activities across the country, a year after the virus canceled large-scale celebrations. The White House wrote in an e-mail to state and local officials on Tuesday, “We welcome you to join us in hosting our own programs to honor our freedom, and to greet those who work on the front lines.”
“Summer in the United States is dramatically different from last year,” the administration wrote to officials. “Summer of independence. Summer of joy. Summer of reunions and celebrations.”
In large parts of the world, the virus is raging unchecked, and health experts warn that without the vaccine, a variety of conditions could emerge that would undermine vaccine providers in the United States. While in Europe, Biden and fellow leaders of seven groups announced plans to provide 1 billion shots to poor countries, half of them American, but aid groups say they are working to defeat the virus worldwide.
Even in the United States, as infection rates continue to fall, the vaccination campaign is far from over. Now, less than 370,000 Americans are getting their first dose on average every day, up from about 22 million two months ago. White House officials have acknowledged the deep geographical differences in vaccination rates and said the administration will continue to remind non-Americans that the virus poses a serious illness and death risk.
Despite this, cases are also declining in the southern and mid-western states, which are significantly behind the rest of the country in terms of vaccination. Elsewhere, California lifted all other virus restrictions and reopened its grand on Tuesday. In New York, whose government, Andrew Cuomo, said 70 percent of adults had targeted the benchmark of receiving at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, laws were being raised to limit the number of gatherings.
Officials say the effects of the July 4th vaccination goal of 70% of Americans on eliminating COVID-19 cases are already being felt, even if the benchmark is not achieved. Some 166.5 million adults have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to CDC data. To reach his goal, Biden will need to inject about 14 million more people in less than three weeks.
“Regardless of where we are on July Fourth, we’re not shutting down shop,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said last week. “On July 5th, we’re going to continue to press to vaccinate more people across the country.”
Biden intends to use his remarks on July Fourth to highlight the administration’s “wartime response,” with a vaccination campaign that helped bring cases and deaths down by about 90% from where they were before he took office on Jan. 20.
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