Biden urges US to ‘get vaccinated now’ as Covid-19 cases surge

Joe Biden’s plea comes amid fears of a third wave of Covid-19 and a new raft of restrictions that would derail the nation’s economic recovery.

Marking six months in office with a speech at the White House, US President Joe Biden said the US economic recovery “hinged on getting the pandemic under control”. Picture: AFP

President Joe Biden has pleaded with Americans to get vaccinated as Covid-19 cases surge across the US, fuelling fears of a third wave of Covid-19 and a new wave of restrictions that would derail the nation’s economic recovery.

Marking six months in office with a speech at the White House, the President said the US economic recovery “hinged on getting the pandemic under control” as US blue chip stocks dropped more than 2 per cent in value in New York in the biggest one-day fall since October last year.

“By fully vaccinating 160 million Americans, 80 per cent of our seniors, we’ve fundamentally changed the course of the pandemic … but we can’t let up, especially since and because of the Delta variant, which is more transmissible and more dangerous,” the President said.

“Virtually all hospitalisation and deaths are occurring among unvaccinated Americans. These tragedies are avoidable If you’re unvaccinated, you are not protected. So, please, please get vaccinated. Get vaccinated now. It works. It’s safe. It’s free. It’s convenient,” he said.

People wearing facemasks outdoors are seen at a Covid-19 vaccine site in LA. Picture: AFP

The Dow Jones index dropped 2.1 per cent on Monday – more than 720 points to 33,962 – as the growing prospect of a third wave of Covid-19 saw a flight to safer investments. The yield on US 10 year government bonds fell below 1.2 per cent, the lowest level since February.

The President said four Republican states – Arkansas, Florida, Missouri and Nevada – accounted for 40 per cent of all new Covid-19 cases across the country, a total which reached 26,000 a day on average last week, up 70 per cent on the previous week. Cases are rising in every US state.

All children should wear masks, vaccinated or not, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended on Monday.

The President also dialled down his criticism of Facebook, which last week he had said was “killing people” for publishing anti-vaccine misinformation.

“Facebook isn’t killing people; these 12 people who are out there giving misinformation — anyone listening to it is getting hurt by it,” the president said, referring to individuals and organisations, including anti-vax campaigner Robert Kennedy, the nephew of the former president.

According to a recent poll, about 20 per cent of the American public believes microchips are embedded in vaccines, according to a recent YouGov poll.

“I’m trying make people to look at themselves. Look in the mirror. Think about that misinformation going to your son, your daughter, your relatives, someone you love,” he said.

The head of the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Rachelle Walensky, warned of a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” last week, noting hospitalisations and deaths, respectively had increased 36 per cent and 24 per cent to 2,800 and 211.

More than 68 per cent of Americans aged over 18 have had at least one vaccine shot, including more than 89 per cent of those aged over 65. The daily number of new vaccinations, however, has slowed from over 3 million in April to fewer than 500,000, fuelling concern among experts immunity levels to stop the spread of the delta variant won’t be reached.

The president pointed to the fastest economic growth “at this point in any administration’s history”.

“It turns out capitalism is alive and very well. We’re making serious progress to ensure that it works the way it’s supposed to work: for the good of the American people,” he said.

“So, for all those predictions of doom and gloom, six months in, here’s where we stand: record growth, record job creation, workers getting hard-earned breaks,” he added.

The centrepiece of the president’s economic agenda, a bipartisan, $1 trillion infrastructure deal thrashed out between Republicans and Democrats a month ago, has stalled in Congress as the two major parties can’t agree on how to pay for the additional spending.

The bill faces its first vote in the Senate on Wednesday.