Biden claims ‘almost all’ Covid victims in America were unvaccinated
Claiming that “almost all” of over 400,000 Americans who died of Covid-19 in 2021 were unvaccinated, US President Joe Biden demanded everyone get vaccinated and boosted as a “patriotic duty” amid the spread of the Omicron variant.
“We should all be concerned about Omicron, but not panicked. If you’re fully vaccinated, especially if you got your booster shot, you’re highly protected,” Biden told reporters at the White House on Tuesday afternoon.
“Almost everyone who has died of Covid-19 over the past many months has been unvaccinated,” he said, adding that those who got the vaccines and boosters have a “high degree of protection against severe illness.”
Biden urged Americans to get vaccinated if they haven’t already, and get booster shots if they have, so they can safely celebrate Christmas and the upcoming holidays. Everyone still ought to wear a mask in indoor public settings, the president added.
BIDEN: "If you're not fully vaccinated, you have good reason to be concerned...You're at a high risk of getting sick...Almost everyone who has died from COVID-19 in the past many months has been unvaccinated" pic.twitter.com/erDV7sLQuT
— VINnews (@VINNews) December 21, 2021
Repeating that “almost all” Americans who died of the virus were unvaccinated, Biden insisted his vaccination mandates were put in place “not to control your life, but to save your life, and the lives of others.”
400,000 of Americans died from Covid this calendar year, and almost all were unvaccinated, almost all were preventable.
In addition to the mandate, which he said was just upheld by courts, Biden said the White House was dipping into emergency management funding to deploy 10,000 more vaccination sites and pop-up clinics for boosters, as well as having FEMA send additional ambulances and build overflow hospitals in New York and Maine, where infections are rising the fastest.
In addition to mandating health insurance to reimburse Covid-19 tests, the federal government is buying 500 million additional tests that Americans will be able to order for free, delivered to their homes in January, Biden said.
He also took the unusual step of mentioning his predecessor by name, bringing up former President Donald Trump’s recent revelation that he took a booster shot, and giving his administration credit for developing the vaccines.
Time and again, Biden blamed the “unvaccinated” for dying, infecting others, and causing hospitals to be overwhelmed. Their choice not to take the jab is “fueled by dangerous misinformation on TV and social media,” he argued, calling it “wrong” and “immoral” and shouting that people doing this need to “stop it now.”
After his presentation, Biden turned to the White House press corps and answered several questions, before saying “I’m not supposed to be having this press conference right now.” He did answer a follow-up question about Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia), then walked away.
