Biden Celebrates Progress Against Virus, but
Acknowledges Hurdles Ahead
The White House hosted an Independence Day event to
signal the administration’s headway against the pandemic, but it was still far
from a victory pronouncement.
Zach
Montague
By Zach
Montague
July 4,
2021
WASHINGTON
— On the day that President Biden had long anticipated as a milestone in the
fight against the coronavirus, the White House hosted a celebration to both
commemorate the July 4 holiday and herald the administration’s progress toward
overcoming the pandemic.
In bringing
together some 1,000 people for the largest planned event of Mr. Biden’s
presidency, the White House has been forced to walk a fine line, striving to
signal progress toward restoring normalcy while still acknowledging the dangers
of a pandemic that continues to claim hundreds of lives a day.
The
president continued that strategy on Sunday, comparing the nation’s fight for
independence with the battle against the coronavirus.
“Two hundred
and forty five years ago, we declared our independence from a distant king,” he
said during the event. “Today, we’re closer than ever to declaring our
independence from a deadly virus. That’s not to say the battle against Covid-19
is over. We’ve got a lot more work to do.”
For months,
the White House had July 4 circled as a breakthrough moment in the pandemic,
the point at which many restrictions could be lifted if the country met
ambitious vaccination targets.
In the
months after his election, Mr. Biden offered only guarded hope that small
groups would be able to gather by the holiday weekend while still observing
familiar safety guidance.
But as
vaccination rates climbed steadily throughout the spring, the White House grew
more confident, describing the holiday as the beginning of a “summer of
freedom” and the event on Sunday as a celebration not only of Independence Day
but also of “independence from Covid-19.”
In addition
to Mr. Biden’s speech, the celebration included a barbecue honoring attendees —
a group of first responders, essential workers and service members, nearly all
of whom were vaccinated and able to go without masks in accordance with
guidance released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in May.
Guests mingled on the South Lawn, enjoying pulled pork and chicken while a live
band played throughout the evening.
In his
remarks, the president reflected on the more than 600,000 Americans who have
died from the virus over the past 16 months.
“This day
falls hard on all those who’ve lost a loved one,” Mr. Biden said. “Each day, I
carry a card in my pocket with my schedule on it. On the back of that schedule,
on that card, I have the number of Americans who’ve lost their lives to Covid.”
But the
president also addressed the present, imploring unvaccinated Americans to get
shots. “It’s the most patriotic thing you can do,” he said.
Mr. Biden
expressed gratitude to the essential workers and military families whose work
throughout the pandemic has helped bring new cases and deaths down by more than
90 percent from their peak in January. They “became the light to see us through
the darkness,” he said.
Still, the
Biden administration has been forced to concede in recent weeks that many
challenges lie ahead, and the president was careful to remind the crowd several
times of the threat the pandemic still poses.
While the
White House once targeted July 4 as the date that at least 70 percent of adults
would be at least partly vaccinated, officials acknowledged last month that
they would almost certainly miss that goal as the vaccination rate has
plummeted from a peak in April.
And while
20 states, Washington, D.C., and two territories exceeded the 70 percent mark
last week, the country’s progress as a whole has slowed significantly, with
only about one million doses now being administered each week on average. On
Sunday, roughly 67 percent of adults had received at least one shot, according
to data compiled by The New York Times.
The rapid
spread of the highly contagious Delta variant has also raised concerns among
public health officials, who fear that new outbreaks could occur in parts of
the country where vaccination rates have stayed comparatively low, and that the
variant could mutate in ways that leave even vaccinated Americans vulnerable.
While the
pageantry at the White House presented a display of normality that seemed far
from likely at the beginning of Mr. Biden’s term, the occasion was
characterized by a sense of restraint rarely seen under the previous
administration.
Even as new
cases swelled toward a summer peak last year, President Donald J. Trump went
ahead with a 35-minute fireworks display and military flyovers on the National
Mall, against the wishes of Mayor Muriel E. Bowser of Washington, who urged
people not to attend. The fireworks show this year will be only half as long,
and Ms. Bowser, encouraged by progress on vaccines, has welcomed guests back to
the city.
Under Mr.
Trump, the White House hosted other large gatherings long before vaccines had
been approved, including two celebrating the nomination and confirmation of
Justice Amy Coney Barrett, in which he and several other attendees were
believed to have been exposed and infected.
For Mr.
Biden, the celebrations this year appeared choreographed to signal that
Americans could enjoy some degree of normality in coming together, even as he
and his own public health officials have continued to stress the importance of
maintaining momentum on vaccines.
In the days
leading up to the event, the president was careful to reiterate that even amid
the vaccination effort, the United States is still averaging hundreds of
Covid-19 deaths each day. He urged Americans not to be complacent.
“I am not
concerned there is going to be a major outbreak — in other words, that we’re
going to have another epidemic nationwide,” Mr. Biden told reporters on Friday.
“But I am concerned lives will be lost.”
But despite
recent setbacks to his administration’s goals, the president appeared ready to
embrace the moment.
“Today,
while the virus has not been vanquished, we know this: It no longer controls
our lives, it no longer paralyzes our nation,” Mr. Biden told the crowd on
Sunday. “And it is within our power to make sure it never does again.”
Zach
Montague is based in Washington, D.C. He covers breaking news and developments
around the district. @zjmontague
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