Biden calls on Americans to get vaccinated, says he 'will not relent until we beat this virus'

Joe Biden.
(Image credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

On Thursday night, exactly one year after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a global pandemic, President Biden spoke to the nation about what Americans have gone through collectively since then, offering cautious optimism.

As of Thursday, at least 527,726 Americans have died of the coronavirus, more than the number of deaths in World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, and 9/11 combined. "A year ago, no one could have imagined what we were about to go through, but now we're coming through it," Biden said. "It's a shared experience that binds us together as a nation. We are bound together by the loss and the pain in the days that have gone by. We're also bound together by the hope and the possibilities in the days in front of us."

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"I promise I will do everything in my power, I will not relent, until we beat this virus," Biden said. "But I need every American to do their part. That's not hyperbole. I need you to get vaccinated when it's your turn." If people get vaccinated and continue to wear masks and social distance, there is "a good chance" small gatherings can take place on July 4. Biden cautioned that a lot might happen between now and then, as there are new virus variants spreading.

Now is not the time to let up, Biden said. Americans have lost a lot — loved ones, friends, businesses, time — but "America is coming back," he promised. He praised the "extraordinary" measures that led to coronavirus vaccines being developed, manufactured, and distributed quickly, and said it is his "fervent prayer for our country" that "after what we went through, we'll come together as one people, one nation, one America. I believe we can, and we will."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.