The president, Joe Biden, will celebrate Independence Day this Sunday at the White House with an event of 1,000 attendees, the largest that has been organized so far, which also seeks to celebrate the advances in the fight against the pandemic. of coronavirus.
"This is a holiday weekend
,
"
Biden said on Friday as journalists inquired about the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
"I'm going to celebrate," he added.
The president wants all Americans to celebrate too, after enduring 16 months of restrictions from the pandemic and more than 605,000 deaths from COVID-19.
To do this, the White House encouraged the meetings and prepared fireworks displays around the entire country to mark 'independence' from the virus.
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"July 4 of this year is different from July 4 of last year. And it will be better next year
,
"
Biden said Friday.
On the day that Biden long anticipated as a symbolic date in the fight against the virus, the White House has reason to celebrate: COVID-19 cases and deaths are at record lows in large part thanks to the robust vaccination campaign.
Businesses and restaurants have reopened across the country, employment is recovering, and air travel is approaching pre-pandemic levels.
Preparations for the Independence Day festivities at the White House, July 3, 2021.AP
However, the pandemic is not over yet.
Currently,
more than 200 people die a day from COVID-19
.
A new, more infectious variant has spread to all 50 states across the country.
And, probably the most worrying part, tens of millions of people have chosen not to get vaccinated against the virus.
Biden himself had set a goal of vaccinating 70% of the adult population by this July 4 holiday.
But more than 32 states fell short of this goal, most of them run by Republicans.
According to official data, 67% of the country's population was vaccinated.
Precisely this Sunday the main expert in infectious diseases of the Government, Dr. Anthony Fauci, affirmed that
99.2% of recent deaths from COVID-19 in the country corresponded to people who were not vaccinated
.
Experts fear a re-outbreak of COVID-19 due to the festivities of July 4
July 3, 202101: 59
"It is very sad and tragic because most of these [deaths] were preventable and preventable,"
said Fauci.
On June 29,
The Associated Press
news agency
published an analysis of government data available through May showing that postvaccine infections among fully inoculated people were less than 1,200, compared to more than 107,000 hospitalizations for COVID-19.
That figure is roughly 1.1%.
The fact that almost all current deaths from COVID-19 in the United States were in people who were not vaccinated is a stark demonstration of how effective injections have been and an indication that deaths per day in the country could be practically zero if all eligible were inoculated.
1,000 people are expected to join the outdoor festivities on the South Lawn of the White House
.
The event "is being done in the right way and according to the guidelines of the CDC," said the coordinator of the White House response team to the pandemic, Jeff Zients.
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The White House did not require attendees to provide proof that they had been vaccinated, but did ask them to test negative for COVID-19 if they were not fully immunized.
"No matter how much work is missing, it is very important to celebrate victories,"
Dr. Mati Hlatshwayo Davis
told
The Associated Pres
.
"I agree that we have those sources of joy and celebration whenever we wake up the next day and continue working and prioritizing equity in the distribution of vaccines," he added.
With information from The Associated Press.
