WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 After nearly six months in office, grappling with a pandemic every step of that way, President Joe Biden was determined to party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is a holiday weekend,\u201d Biden declared on Friday as he parried journalists\u2019 \u201cnegative\u201d questions about the ongoing U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, \u201cI\u2019m going to be celebrating it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden wants Americans to celebrate too, after enduring 16 months of disruption in the pandemic and more than 605,000 deaths. The White House encouraged gatherings and fireworks displays all around the country to mark \u2014 as though ripped from a Hollywood script \u2014 the nation\u2019s \u201cindependence\u201d from the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And there is much to cheer: Cases and deaths from COVID-19 are at or near record lows since the outbreak began, thanks to the robust U.S. vaccination program. Businesses and restaurants are open, hiring is picking up and travel is getting closer to pre-pandemic levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, it\u2019s hardly a \u201cMission Accomplished\u201d moment. More than 200 Americans still die each day from COVID-19, a more infectious variant of the virus is spreading rapidly at home and abroad, and tens of millions of Americans have chosen not to get the lifesaving vaccines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you\u2019ve had the vaccine, you\u2019re doing great,\u201d said Dr. Mati Hlatshwayo Davis, an infectious disease physician at the John Cochran VA Medical Center and St. Louis Board of Health. \u201cIf you haven\u2019t had the vaccine, you should be alarmed and that\u2019s just the bottom line, there\u2019s no easy way to cut it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut that doesn\u2019t take away from the fact that this country is in a significantly better place,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden, who is set to host the largest event yet of his presidency on the South Lawn of the White House on Sunday, sees this as a long-awaited opportunity to highlight the success of the vaccination campaign he championed. It will be the clearest indication yet that the U.S. has moved into a new phase of virus response, shifting from a national emergency to a localized crisis of individual responsibility and from vaccinating Americans to promoting global health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Fourth of July this year is different than the Fourth of July of last year,\u201d Biden said Friday. \u201cAnd it\u2019s going to be better next year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Top officials in the Biden administration fanned out across the country over the weekend to promote the vastly improved virus situation under the banner, \u201cAmerica\u2019s Back Together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Never mind that\u00a0the president has come up short of the vaccination goal\u00a0he had set for the Fourth with great fanfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden had hoped to have 70% of the adult population vaccinated by Sunday, but clocked in at about 67%, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Officials insisted that the miss would have little practical effect on Americans\u2019 ability to mark the Independence Day holiday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What concerns them more is the emergence of two disparate realities in the U.S.: the gap between heavily vaccinated communities where the virus is dying out and lesser-vaccinated ones where the\u00a0new delta variant\u00a0is already taking hold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About 1,000 counties have a vaccination rate below 30%, and the federal government is warning that they could become the next hot spots as virus restrictions ease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The administration is sending \u201csurge\u201d teams to Colorado and Missouri. Additional squads of infectious disease experts, public health professionals and doctors and nurses are getting ready to assist in additional locations with a combination of low vaccination rates and rising cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Overall, the vastly improved American landscape stands in stark contrast with much of the rest of the world, where there remain vast vaccine deserts and wide community spread that could open the door to even more dangerous variants. The Biden administration is increasingly turning the federal response to the complicated logistics of sending excess U.S. vaccines abroad in an effort to assist other nations in beating back the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With U.S. demand for vaccines falling even as they have been widely available for months, and as governments and businesses dangled an array of incentives at Americans to get a shot, officials are increasingly emphasizing that the consequences of disease now largely reflect the individual choices of those who are not yet vaccinated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe suffering and loss we are now seeing is nearly entirely avoidable,\u201d said the CDC\u2019s director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When asked about the potential risks of holding gatherings around July Fourth in areas where there are large pockets of unvaccinated individuals, White House press secretary Jen Psaki countered that \u201cif individuals are vaccinated in those areas, then they are protected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At least 1,000 service members and first responders were expected on the South Lawn for a cookout and fireworks viewing, the White House said. The outdoor event \u201cis being done in the right way,\u201d White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said in television interviews Sunday, and \u201cconsistent\u201d with CDC guidelines. The White House was not requiring vaccinations but was asking guests to get a COVID-19 test and to wear a mask if they are not fully vaccinated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor as much work there still is to do, it\u2019s so important to celebrate the victories,\u201d Davis said. \u201cI\u2019m OK with us having those pockets of joy and celebration as long as we still wake up the next day and continue to go to work and prioritize equity in vaccine distribution.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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