President Biden has kept his promise to use every tool at his disposal to put an end to this pandemic and keep Americans safe. After just one year, President Biden and Democrats in Congress have made incredible strides: more than three in four Americans have received a COVID-19 vaccine, nearly every school-aged child is back in the classroom, and our economy has added more than six million jobs. The American Rescue Plan (ARP) provided the funding that made these triumphs possible, creating a strong vaccination program that quickly got more shots in arms, allowed children to safely return to school with funds to help mitigate the spread of illness, and allowed American workers to get back to their jobs and provide for their families.
Meanwhile, the contrast is clear: as President Biden implements tangible, successful solutions, Republican governors, members of Congress, and attorneys general are doing everything they can to slow down vaccinations and undermine other basic ways to keep Americans safe. They continue to spread disinformation about vaccines, putting lives at risk, harming the economy, and making it harder for Americans to get back to their lives.
The State Of Our Union Today And When President Biden Took Office:
Vaccinations. President Biden’s science based approach to the pandemic inspired confidence in America’s COVID-19 vaccination program. Due to his leadership, vaccinations prevented more than one million deaths and more than 10 million COVID hospitalizations by November of 2021.
Schools. Thanks to funds from the ARP, schools had the tools necessary to stay open and mitigate risk, even during the Omicron surge.
Jobs. The American economy is currently on track to recoup all of the jobs lost during the pandemic by the end of 2022. Without the ARP, it would have taken the U.S. an additional four years to recover economically.
Leading Us Out Of The Pandemic, Giving Americans the Tools They Need:
- Shots in Arms. 76 percent of Americans have received at least one dose of a vaccine, and 65 percent are fully vaccinated. Over 94 million Americans have received a booster shot, providing the best protection against the omicron variant. The Biden Administration has made booster shots free and convenient at over 80,000 locations nationwide. Vaccines are our best tool to prevent severe sickness and death from all variants of Covid-19 and they have already prevented 1.1 million deaths and 10.3 million additional Covid hospitalizations.
- New Access To Therapeutic Drugs And High Quality Masks. On January 4, President Biden announced that the federal government doubled the U.S.’ order for Pfizer’s Covid-19 antiviral pill, Paxlovid, which has been shown to reduce hospitalizations and severe illness significantly, another vital tool for reducing suffering and bringing the pandemic to an end. Twenty million doses of Paxlovid continue to be delivered across the country, with the first shipments sent to hospitals on Christmas Eve. In the largest deployment of personal protective equipment in U.S. history, the Biden administration distributed 400 million free, high-quality N95 masks at thousands of sites around the country.
- Increased Testing. Since taking office, the Biden administration has taken numerous steps to increase Americans’ access to vital Covid-19 testing, both at home and at testing sites around the country. There are more than 20,000 free testing sites around the country, including new federal sites deployed in response to the omicron variant surge. Four times as many rapid tests are available for Americans to use at home than were available last summer, and the administration’s wildly successful distribution of half-billion rapid tests this winter provided four free tests to every American household upon request, in addition to an earlier rule requiring insurance companies to reimburse members for their purchase of rapid tests.
- Schools Open. Thanks to the efforts of the Biden administration to provide safe and effective vaccines for students, and funding for masks and ventilation in schools, nearly 100 percent of American students were back in the classroom full time in December 2020, up from under three-quarters at the end of last school year.
- Workers Back To Work. The Biden administration has presided over the largest one year drop in the unemployment rate in U.S. history, and the creation of more than six million jobs, the most of any first year president in history. Despite the devastating Omicron surge, the addition of 467,000 jobs in January served as a strong signal that the economy continues to move in the right direction under President Biden. Thanks to the American Rescue Plan and the success of the vaccination program, workers are able to go back to work more safely and confidently.
Republicans Are Prolonging The Pandemic And Blocking A Return To Normal:
- Republicans Are Paying People Not to Get Vaccinated. Republican governors and legislators across the country have changed their unemployment insurance rules to allow workers who are fired or quit over vaccine mandates to receive benefits. In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis has offered cash bonuses to unvaccinated police officers who quit or are fired from police forces in other states. CDC data shows that unvaccinated adults are 97 times more likely to die from the virus compared to vaccinated and boosted individuals.
- Republicans Are Refusing to Promote Booster Shots. Republican governors including Gov. DeSantis of Florida and Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma have been scornful or silent about booster shots that have been proven to provide significant protection against the Omicron variant. Asked whether he had received a booster shot, DeSantis demurred saying, “So, I’ve done whatever I did. The — the normal shot, and that at the end of the day is people’s individual decisions about what they want to do.” Data shows that Florida had 33% more deaths per capita than California during the Omicron surge, showing Florida was more vulnerable to Omicron because of its decision not to promote booster shots. Oklahoma Governor Stitt announced that he has no plans to get boosted, telling a reporter, “I’m perfectly healthy.” Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee used their official Twitter account to spread false information, asking: “If the booster shots work, why don’t they work?” The tweet was later deleted.
- Republicans Are Blocking Vaccine and Testing Requirements. The National Academy for State Health Policy found that nine GOP-controlled states have passed laws requiring exemptions for the federal vaccine mandate, or banning private companies from requiring vaccination altogether. Several states have made it easier for workers to claim exemptions from vaccine mandates, allowing them to decline on philosophical grounds or requiring businesses to accept all requests for religious or medical exemptions without proof.
- Republicans Are Launching Congressional Attacks on Vaccines. Republican members of Congress have made dozens of attempts to undermine vaccines, including blocking or rolling back vaccine requirements. Every Republican member of the Senate has joined an effort led by Sen. Mike Braun to overturn the federal vaccine or test mandate using the Congressional Review Act.Senator Ted Cruz vowed to shut down the government over vaccines, joined by Senator Mike Lee and other Republicans, intent on harming the economy, slowing the country’s recovery and return to normalcy, and putting their constituents’ lives at risk all to score political points. Senator Cruz said requiring students to get vaccinated in order to attend school was an “abuse of power”, something that schools have done for many, many, many years.
- Republicans Are Pushing Dangerous And Unproven Medical Treatments. Republicans have been relentless in touting ‘cures’ such as hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin as treatments to COVID-19. This comes despite the FDA’s warning that “hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine have not been shown to be safe and effective for treating or preventing COVID-19.” Republicans have also been vocal advocates for the anti-parasitic drug, ivermectin, disregarding the FDA’s repeated proclamations that ivermectin has never been proven to be a safe or effective treatment against COVID-19. These dangerous actions have real world consequences. Research from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School clearly shows that the more Republican leaders promoted these unproven drugs, the more likely Republican voters were to shun vaccines and use hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. A Washington Post summarizing the research stated, “It seems safe to assume that they were looking for treatments that aligned with their political position before ones that aligned with expert recommendations.”
- Republicans Are Rolling Back Local Public Health Powers. Republicans in at least 26 states have passed laws that permanently weaken government authority to protect public health and more than 20 states have banned proof of vaccination requirements. In Arkansas, legislators banned mask mandates of all kinds. In Idaho, elected county commissioners can now veto countywide public health orders. And in Kansas and Tennessee, school boards, rather than health officials, have the power to close schools.