This July 4, 2021, which commemorates in the United States the declaration of independence of 1776, "is a special celebration this year, because we are coming out of a dark year", recognized Sunday Joe Bien in front of a thousand guests, to the White House.
In a short and combative speech on the occasion of the national holiday, the American president assured him: "We have never been so close to declaring our independence in the face of the virus".
Joe Biden invited caregivers, soldiers and other so-called "essential" workers to share a barbecue, and to admire the traditional fireworks.
But the rapid circulation of the delta variant and the low vaccination rate in some areas worry experts.
On the occasion of the American National Day, the President of the United States Joe Biden called on Americans to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
#ApollineMatin pic.twitter.com/sOGrSAGpAe
- RMC (@RMCinfo) July 5, 2021
Getting vaccinated is in these conditions "the most patriotic action possible", he said in a speech which also celebrated the thunderous American economic recovery.
As the President spoke, many people were already thronging the length of The Mall, the famous plaza in downtown Washington, to get a front row seat to the fireworks.
Reluctance to get vaccinated
To find relatives or get some fresh air, nearly 50 million Americans escaped for this extended weekend, barely less than in 2019, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).
Celebrations could not be more classic, but unimaginable during the summer of 2020.
A year ago, pandemic requires, Joe Biden was campaigning for the presidential election by video, from his basement. Across the United States, parades and marching bands had been reduced to the bare minimum. The country was also crossed by giant demonstrations against racism, sparked by the death of African-American George Floyd on May 25, 2020.
With more than 33 million cases and 600,000 deaths, the United States has paid the heaviest price, but the vaccination campaign has effectively brought down the number of hospitalizations and deaths in recent months.
The reluctance of the youngest, the conservatives and part of the black minority in the face of vaccines, however, prevent definitively turning the page.
Symbolically, they (narrowly) failed Joe Biden's target for July 4, namely a first dose administered to 70% of the adult population (67.1% in reality).
More seriously, the number of new cases of Covid-19 has not decreased since mid-June, when the Delta variant, very contagious, represents 35% of cases.
Read also Delta variant: hospitalized but yet vaccinated, what the data on English patients say
But it is not only in terms of health that the White House fears the emergence of inequalities.
If economic growth is explosive, and employment figures very good, thanks to a pharaonic stimulus plan put on the rails by Joe Biden, the picture has its gray areas.
Social inequalities
There is still 6.8 million jobs missing compared to February 2020, and black and Hispanic minorities remain more affected by unemployment.
Joe Biden hopes that the adoption of another gigantic plan - to modernize infrastructure - boost employment a little more.
Despite the announcement of an agreement in principle with Republicans for a budget of $ 1.2 trillion, its adoption in Congress remains uncertain.
Because, since the start of his mandate, the president has struggled with an intransigent opposition, spurred on by a Donald Trump who is still very influential. The Democratic president, who wants to be the man of the rally, of the reconciliation of a country crossed by multiple fractures, could not miss the occasion of the national holiday to launch a call for unity. “We are the United States of America. And there is nothing that we cannot do, if we do it together, ”he declaimed.