Biden to lay out plans to boost vaccine uptake

Published 6:45 am Thursday, September 9, 2021

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President Joe Biden is set to outline a six-pronged federal effort to boost COVID-19 vaccinations and curb the surging delta variant of the coronavirus that is killing thousands each week and jeopardizing the nation’s economic recovery.

Joe Biden

The White House says Biden’s afternoon speech Thursday will encourage vaccinations for those who haven’t had a shot and promote new ways to protect those who are vaccinated. He’ll also push efforts to safely keep schools open, as well as new ways to boost testing and promote mask requirements. And he’ll emphasize steps to boost the economic recovery and moves to improve treatment for those with COVID-19.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday that Biden would encourage vaccine mandates for workforces and schools.

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She says: “We know that increasing vaccinations will stop the spread of the pandemic, will get the pandemic under control, will return people to normal life. That’s what our objective is. So we want to be specific about what we’re trying to achieve.”