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US President Joe Biden: "If You Haven't Been Vaccinated, Do It"
Photo: EVELYN HOCKSTEIN / REUTERS
US President Joe Biden urged Americans to vaccinate on the national holiday in order to achieve "independence" from the coronavirus together. Getting vaccinated was the "most patriotic" thing citizens could do now, Biden said on Independence Day in the White House garden. “So please, if you haven't been vaccinated, do it. Do it now - for yourself, for your loved ones, for your community, for your country. "
Thanks to the vaccination campaign, the US is "closer than ever to declaring its independence from the deadly virus," Biden emphasized.
The virus has not yet been defeated, and there are new dangerous variants.
"But the best defense against these variants is to get vaccinated," Biden said.
Thanks to the vaccinations, the virus no longer controls people's lives, "it no longer paralyzes our country, and it is in our power to ensure that it never happens again."
Biden celebrated the holiday with a big barbecue in the garden of the White House for around 1000 invited guests.
These included many soldiers, health workers and their families.
Independence Day was also of particular importance this year because Biden wanted to have achieved a new vaccination goal by then.
However, despite numerous vaccination incentives and a large supply of vaccines, the target was not achieved.
By Sunday, 70 percent of all adults should have received at least one vaccine dose.
So far, however, only 67 percent, or 173 million people, received at least the first vaccination, according to data from the CDC.
asa / dpa