CV NEWS FEED // President Joe Biden told a reporter that America will go back to normal after as many as 98% of Americans submit to mandatory vaccination and take COVID-19 shots.
“Well I think, look — I think we get the vast majority, like what’s going on in some of the … some industries and some schools — it’s 97, 98 percent,” Biden said in answer to a reporter who asked when America could go back to normal. “But I’m not the scientist,” Biden added. “But one thing for certain: A quarter of the country can’t go unvaccinated.”
The president’s comments received an immense public backlash, with many pointing out how much the Biden administration’s promises have shifted while America’s economy and quality of life has suffered under COVID-19 policies.
In May, the administration announced the goal of reaching 70% vaccination. Americans fulfilled that goal by the beginning of August.
Immediately, health officials began to downplay the value of the achievement, however. “We need to have at least 80% of the population vaccinated to truly have some form of herd immunity,” said Dr. Paul Offit, a voting member of the Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee.
In addition, Biden went on to announce a sweeping “vaccine mandate,” and called on employers to threaten to fire all employees who would not comply.
In the eyes of many critics, the president’s latest comments only compounded the sense of escalating demands and manipulation on the part of public officials.
Numerous commentators pointed out that Biden’s goal of a 97%-98% vaccination rate was “unrealistic.” “This is code for we are never getting back to normal,” tweeted Donald Trump, Jr.
“If you believe this is possible, either that he can force 98% of us to vaccinate or that if we do, he’ll allow the country to get back to normal, then I have a set of bridges to nowhere I’d like to sell you,” wrote Daniel Baranowski.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, reacted matter-of-factly to the president’s comments. Sharing an earlier Biden administration statement calling for 70-80 percent of Americans to get vaccinated in order to reach herd immunity, Cruz simply wrote: “Joe Biden is moving the goalposts.”
Readers can watch President Biden’s remarks in the video below.