Biden says pandemic is over, experts claim remarks could hamper efforts to battle COVID-19
A day after POTUS Joe Biden abruptly announced the end of the pandemic in the United States, a number of lawmakers and public health experts criticised him.
Even though the United States continues to grapple with COVID-19 infections that kill hundreds of Americans daily, President Joe Biden was quick to announce that the “pandemic is now over in the country”. The latest remarks from Biden came during an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes, where he advocated for precautions but later announced the end of the pandemic era. “The pandemic is over. We still have a problem with Coronavirus. We’re still doing a lot of work on it. It’s — but the pandemic is over,” Biden said. “If you notice, no one’s wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape. And so I think it’s changing,” he added.
Surprisingly, his claim came a week after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said around 400 people were dying from COVID-19 daily.
Even Biden and his wife, US First Lady, Jill Biden had recently contracted the lethal virus despite being fully vaccinated. However, Biden termed the mild cases were a testament to the improvements in care during his presidency.
Besides, in the first week of this month, his administration asked Congress for funding worth billions in order to support its testing and vaccine programs through a potential fall wave. According to the White House, the vast majority of Americans have the protection of a vaccine – with 215 million Americans fully vaccinated, and an estimated two-thirds of eligible adults having received their booster shot.
COVID still a public health emergency in the US
America has experienced at least five waves of the virus and lost more than ten million people to COVID and the toll is only increasing. Moreover, the administration still designates the lethal virus a Public Health Emergency and the World Health Organization says it remains a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
Earlier last week, during a press conference, director-general of the World Health OrganizationTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that the end of the Covid-19 pandemic was “in sight,” and that the world has never been in a better position to end the pandemic. “Last week, the number of weekly reported deaths from Covid-19 was the lowest since March 2020. “We have never been in a better position to end the pandemic. We’re not there yet, but the end is in sight,” he said. 0
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