The Delta variant continues to spread in the US, the nation has seen a recent increase in its seven-day average of Covid-19 cases. On Wednesday, the CDC reported 14,875 new cases of Covid-19. The nation’s current seven-day average is about 12,600 cases per day.
Biden said Friday he is not concerned about another widespread Covid outbreak — but acknowledged he was wary of unvaccinated people catching the Delta variant at holiday gatherings.
“I am concerned that people who have not gotten vaccinated have the capacity to catch the variant and spread it to other people who have not been vaccinated,” Biden told reporters at an event on the economy. “I am not concerned that there’s going to be a major outbreak.”
In a tweet on July 2 ,
The US president wrote in his tweet “Help us mark our independence from the virus – get vaccinated”
Biden reiterated his fears that “lives will be lost” should more people continue to resist getting vaccines.
The continuing spread of the covid virus remain strong inside the administration, which announced this week it would dispatch response teams across the US to communities where officials are worried about a potentially deadly combination: low vaccination rates and a significant presence of the highly transmissible form of the virus.
In private meetings, Biden has questioned advisers about the broader impact the highly contagious variant could have on the US, according to people present. He still receives a daily report on case rates, the number of deaths and the prevalence of variants. Officials have stressed that vaccinated people are safe, while those who are unvaccinated are the most at risk.
“Don’t think about yourself, think about your family. Think about those around you,” he said. “That is what we should be thinking about today. The Fourth of July this year is different than the Fourth of July last year and it will be better next year.”
In some ways, this weekend is the moment Biden predicted two months into his presidency, standing in the Cross Hall of the White House.
“If we do our part, if we do this together, by July the Fourth there’s a good chance you, your families and friends will be able to get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood and have a cookout and a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day,” Biden said in March, a long red carpet stretching behind him, setting a months-away goal for returning the country to normal.
Officials insist the relative normalcy of this year’s holiday compared to the months spent under social distancing and mask restrictions was a signal Biden’s strategy had worked.
