President Commits To Complete Vaccination Program For Adults By May

Newly elected US President Biden is feeling immense pressure being challenged from all fronts to control the massive outbreak of pandemic in the States. As a consequence, he promised on Tuesday that with the help of a stepped-up vaccine program, he is looking forward to providing a vaccine for all adult Americans by the end of May — previously, this period was by July end. 

President Commits To Complete Vaccination Program For Adults By May

President Biden said that he had a talk with Merck, the pharmaceutical giant.  Merck has promised Biden that it will definitely help in the making of Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot coronavirus vaccine. The company added that due to the administration’s urging, Johnson & Johnson’s manufacturing facilities will now work round-the-clock and produce vaccines in adequate quantities. 

In the same context, the President also added that he would deploy the federal authority in the program of offering vaccinations to child-care workers and K-12 teachers with the purpose of getting the first shot of vaccine administered at least to all educators, most probably by  March-end. 

Putting an end to this deadly pandemic has been on top of Biden’s priority list since he has taken the oath. His administration is facing huge challenges in controlling the virus as it is at an inflection point.  President’s announcement on Tuesday has come as a breath of fresh air for all citizens in general and all educators in particular in the United States. 

Active cases of Corona and deaths due to this disease have dramatically and considerably fallen since January, but the nation is still facing challenges as more-transmissible and deadly variants are spreading throughout the length and breadth of the country. 

As Federal Authority has warned Americans to remain cautious until all get vaccinated, states and municipalities across the country have let loose coronavirus restrictions this week, thus allowing pandemic-weary people to shun masks and party restaurants without imposing any capacity limits. 

On Tuesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R)  lifted the state’s mask mandate and further allowed all businesses to operate at full capacity; Mississippi too lifted most restrictions on Tuesday. Governors in numerous other states like North Carolina, Arkansas, Virginia and Massachusetts, North Carolina loosened almost all restrictions this week.

The sudden rush to re-open all activities has alarmed federal health officials because they believe it could pose a big threat to progress achieved till date in fighting the virus. On the contrary, this hurried re-opening of all activities might pave the way for yet another upsurge of corona this spring.

In his campaigning days, Biden had promised to re-open all educational institutions within 100 days of his becoming President. By helping vaccinate teachers first, Biden is trying to remove a major hurdle in re-opening schools and keeping his promise. Though this step of his has been enormously controversial and under criticism. Teachers who were reluctant to join work till now are now open to the idea after being vaccinated. 

At the conclusion of his remarks, Biden projected a sense of optimism when asked by reporters when the country would return to normal, according to him. After remarking that he had been “cautioned” not to make any such predictions due to the virus’s uncertainty, he added that he is hopeful of everything returning to normal by this time of next year. 

William Hanage, an epidemiologist at Harvard, remarked that though we may have put the very worst of the pandemic behind us, it wouldn’t get relentlessly better. Remarking on the actions of states lifting corona restrictions, he gave his view that this might prove as an adverse step because this might lead to a sudden upsurge in new corona cases being registered.  He was of the view that these restrictions should have been lifted only when the pandemic comes under control.