A Portrait Of Covid In The U.S. In Nine Charts

 

The charts above are from the Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between June 23rd and July 19th of a nationwide sample of 3,000 adults, with a 2 point margin of error. 

Most Support Mask Requirement On Transportation

The chart above is from a new AP / NORC Poll -- done between April 14th and 18th of a nationwide sample of 1,085 adults, with a 3.9 point margin of error.

A Trump-appointed federal judge ruled that masks cannot be required on airplanes (and other transportation). But that goes against the wishes of a majority of Americans. About 56% favor requiring masks on airplanes, trains, and public transit.

Large pluralities also favor masks for workers who work with the public (49% to 27%) and people attending crowded public events (49% to 28%).

2nd Booster Authorized For Seniors / Immunocompromised

 From fda.gov:

Red States Had Higher Death Rate From COVID

 The chart (using CDC figures) is from Axios.com.

The Best Friends The Virus Has Are Republicans

 

The following post is by Ja'han Jones at MSNBC.com:

The Republican Party is a pro-infection party. From their support of lax Covid-19 safety measures to their tantrums over social media crackdowns on misinformation, Republicans have shown they believe the unfettered passage of dangerous material — be it viral content or a literal virus — is their right.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy made that clear once again Monday with his statement supporting Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., after Twitter banned her personal account for violating its Covid misinformation policy.

“Diversity of opinion is the lifeblood of our democracy,” claimed McCarthy, R-Calif. “And yet that fundamental American value is under assault by Big Tech — entities that have amassed more power and more control over more speech than any other institution in history.”

In typical fashion, McCarthy was merely shilling for an extremist in his party who was rightly punished for misconduct. Greene, of course, wasn’t banned for sharing “diverse” opinions — she was banned for sharing harmful misinformation. Specifically, she falsely tweeted about “extremely high amounts of Covid vaccine deaths” and shared a misleading chart designed to make the vaccine seem dangerous.

Twitter told the true story in a statement to NBC News:

We permanently suspended the account you referenced (@mtgreenee) for repeated violations of our COVID-19 misinformation policy. We’ve been clear that, per our strike system for this policy, we will permanently suspend accounts for repeated violations of the policy.

A day later, Facebook also banned Greene — this time, temporarily — for peddling Covid misinformation. The suspensions clearly weren’t about free speech, contrary to McCarthy’s claim. Greene wasn’t sharing her food recipes (which I'd assume are unpalatable in their own way). She was sharing dangerous misinformation despite repeated warnings.

But Republicans reject these efforts to curb misinformation in the same way they reject efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus: with a fundamental belief that their personal freedoms should trump public safety. 

COVID-19 Cases And Deaths Are Both Rising

 From The Washington Post:

Omicron Hasn't Changed Attitude Of Most Of Unvaccinated

 

The charts above are from a recent Kaiser Family Foundation Poll -- done between December 15th and 20th of a nationwide sample of 1,065 adults, with a 4 point margin of error.

The State Of The Pandemic In The United States

 

There have been 52 million Americans that have come down with a COVID-19 illness, and more than 800,000 have died from that illness. And as the charts above show (from the December 27th Washington Post), the pandemic is not over. It will continue to infect people and kill many of them at least through this winter -- and probably significantly longer.

Many of us had hoped the pandemic would be over by now. Instead, it looks like it may shift from a pandemic to an endemic (a disease we will have to live with for many more years -- perhaps forever).

Why is this true? First, even though we have several vaccines that are very effective, those vaccines have not been distributed to all the world. And as long as the virus raging through other, mostly unvaccinated countries, it will remain a danger to this country.

But there is another reason -- perhaps even more important in this country. There is a political effort to keep the pandemic going. Right-wing Republicans are opposing vaccinations, wearing masks, and social distancing (even though they are very effective in preventing the virus from spreading). And their followers are refusing vaccinations, masks, and social distancing.

Why are the GOP politicians doing this. They know that refusing those measures will make people sick and kill many of them. But they don't care about that. They think if they can keep the pandemic going until November of 2022, they will do well in the next elections. They think voters will blame President Biden for the pandemic and vote for Republicans (even though the pandemic was helped by the incompetence of a Republican president and continued by the denials of Republican politicians).

I hope they are wrong. It is immoral for them to endanger the American public and then benefit from it.

Cancer/Heart Disease Worry Public More Than COVID-19

The chart above is from the Gallup Poll -- done between November 1st and 16th of a national sample of 815 adults, with a 4 point margin of error. 

Mandating Vaccinations Is Not Violating Individual Rights

Republicans (on both the state and federal levels) are opposing both masks and vaccinations being mandatory. They claim that making these mandatory is a violation of an individual's constitutional rights.

What they are not telling you is that this is an issue that has already been decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1905 (Jacobson vs. Massachusetts), they ruled that the state had the power to "enact a compulsory vaccination law", and that did not violate the individual's rights. The state has the right to do that because it has the responsibility to ensure the Public's health.

In other words, the right of the government to mandate vaccinations has been the law for over 100 years in the United States. The 1905 case was about smallpox vaccinations, but the law should equally apply to COVID-19 vaccinations (especially since the virus has claimed over three-quarters of a million lives in this country).

Add to this the fact that all of those same Republicans had to be vaccinated before they entered school in their youth, and the same is true for their children and grandchildren. But they aren't opposing those vaccination mandates (which have been in effect for many years). It's just the COVID-19 vaccinations that they oppose being mandated. Why? 

One has to wonder if they don't care about American lives. The virus is now striking mainly among the unvaccinated, and almost all deaths from the virus are among the unvaccinated. This is obviously a public health problem -- a problem that can be solved through vaccinations.

The answer is that their stance on mandating vaccinations is purely political. They don't care about the lives that will be lost due to their lies about the vaccine, as long as they think they can benefit politically.

They don't want the pandemic to end. If it ends because of the population being vaccinated, they think President Biden will get the credit. But if it doesn't end, they think Biden will be blamed for the continuing pandemic. And if the public blames Biden, then that would be good for the Republicans in next year's elections.

They will likely succeed in causing the pandemic to continue, since a significant portion of their base believe their lies about the vaccine (and its constitutionality). Hopefully though, the public will be smart enough to know the pandemic's continuation is not the fault of President Biden (or the Democrats). It will rest solely with those who opposed the vaccinations (and wearing of masks) -- the Republicans!

Omicron Is Here & Most People Support Efforts To Control It

 

The COVID-19 Omicron variant has reached the United States. Republicans are already starting to play political games with it (with some even calling it a Democratic Party plot to win the 2022 election). But most Americans are not that stupid. They know it's dangerous, and they are willing to have the government do whatever is necessary to control the virus (in all its forms). The only thing most people don't support is closing down businesses and government again.

The chart above is from a Morning Consult Poll -- done on November 29th and 30th of a national sample of 2,200 adults, with a 2 point margin of error.

About 6.7 Million Texans Say No To Taking COVID Vaccine

The chart above is from the newest Dallas Morning News / UT-Tyler Poll -- done between November 9th and 16th of 1,106 registered voters in Texas, with a 2.9 point margin of error.

It shows that about 23% of Texans say they will not take the COVID vaccine (5% say it is unlikely and 18% say definitely no). That's about 6.7 million people in Texas who refuse to take the vaccine, and provides a significant sample in which the virus can continue to grow.

This provides a danger to all Texans, since the longer the virus continues, the more it will mutate -- possibly into forms that can resist the vaccine.

This did not have to be this way, and is almost entirely because of the way the Republican governor and other elected officials have opposed both masks and vaccines. They have turned the pandemic into a political game - a game that will unnecessarily kill many Texans.

32% In U.S. (45% Of GOP) Believe At least 4 COVID-19 Lies

 

The charts above are from the Kaiser Family Foundation Poll -- done between October 14th and 24th of a national sample of 1,519 adults, with a 3 point margin of error.

It shows the 8 most commonly believed lies about COVID-19 (figure 1). Figure 2 shows that 32% of all Americans believe at least four of those lies, while 45% of Republicans believe at least four of them.

Dems Need To Defeat Covid And Help Working Americans

After last Tuesday's results, there are some who think Democrats must change what they are trying to do -- retreat. That would be a serious mistake. They need to do just the opposite. They need to continue the fight against COVID-19 and defeat it -- and they need to pass legislation to help working Americans (Build Back Better Bill). The voters want to see a party that will fight for them, not one that timidly folds in tough times.

Here's part of how Nobel Prize economist Paul Krugman puts it in The New York Times: 

Where Democrats have a clear path forward is on the closely related issues of Covid-19 and the economy. What’s crucial is that Democrats not take the election setbacks as an indication that they’ve overreached — that President Biden should back down on vaccine mandates, that their economic agenda is too left-wing. What the public perceives isn’t a party doing too much, but a party doing too little, and Biden and his allies need to end that sense of drift.

There’s no evidence of a significant voter backlash against Biden’s social spending proposals. . . .

The problem, however, is that Congress still hasn’t passed anything. Politics junkies may be following the twists and turns of negotiations between progressives, who have given up a huge amount of ground, and pro-corporate Democrats, mainly Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. But all the broader public knows is that no bill has been approved; the impression most people have is that Democrats aren’t getting anything done. . . .

Why are consumers unhappy? Jobs are readily available; workers are quitting at record rates, which means they’re confident about finding new employment. But people are upset about rising prices and, to some extent, supply-chain issues — although fears of empty store shelves appear to have been exaggerated. . . .

So what can the Biden administration and its allies do to improve public perceptions of the economy?

Much of what’s distressing the public is beyond U.S. policymakers’ control, even though voters tend to blame whoever is in the White House. Gasoline prices, for example, have risen because of developments on world markets, not anything happening here. The same goes for food prices. And supply-chain problems, mainly reflecting a scramble to buy durable goods at a time when people are afraid to consume in-person services, are hitting many countries. . . .

Early indications, including claims for unemployment benefits and surveys of purchasing managers, suggest that a renewed economic surge is already underway. And as consumers start to feel safer, they may also shift demand away from stuff to services, which would ease some of the supply-chain pressures.

So the way forward for Democrats seems fairly obvious.

First, pass something. It doesn’t have to be perfect; in particular, given incredibly low borrowing costs, it doesn’t matter whether the proposed sources of revenue will fully pay for the new spending. What’s crucial for the politics right now is that something significant gets passed and that Biden then goes out and sells it.

Second, control Covid. The evidence is now overwhelming that vaccine mandates work and that threats of mass resignations if workers are required to get shots are mostly empty. When confronted with the prospect of actually losing a job, a great majority of workers comply. . . .

Will Democrats be able to turn their fortunes around if they push forward on their agenda and hang tough on vaccines? I don’t know. But they’ll certainly fail if they respond to Tuesday’s setbacks by curling up into a defensive ball.

A Danger To Themselves - And The Public

 

Police, and their supporters, will be quick to tell you how dangerous their job is. That makes me wonder why then will they not be vaccinated.

It is a fact that the leading cause of death for police officers in the last year was COVID-19 -- far more than any other cause (including be shot). They will wear protective vests to protect themselves, but a significant portion of them still refuse to be vaccinated -- even when mandated to do so.

Don't they realize they are putting themselves in danger unnecessarily? And perhaps more important, they are putting the public in danger. Due to the nature of the job, the public doesn't have a choice in whether they must deal with the police or not. They should not have to worry about whether the officer facing them is vaccinated or not -- and if unvaccinated, possibly carry a disease that could be fatal.

Many of the police who don't want to be vaccinated are saying it is their right to refuse a vaccination. That would be true if they never had to deal with the public, but they do. The vaccine mandates are appropriate, both to protect the public and themselves (and their fellow officers).

I have no sympathy for police (or other workers the public must deal with) who refuse to be vaccinated. They should be fired, because they are a danger to the public.

The police are supposed to protect and serve the public -- not make them sick!

The Seven Craziest Lies About The COVID-19 Vaccines

The social medias are rife with lies and conspiracy theories about the vaccines for COVID-19. PolitiFact has gathered (and exposes) the seven craziest bits of misinformation about the vaccines. 

Here’s a look at seven scary things that are not in the vaccines:

1. Aluminum that "will kill" the brain.

Aluminum. They use it in pickup trucks, food containers and antiperspirants. But in the COVID-19 vaccines? No.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that small amounts of aluminum — specifically aluminum salts — have been used in vaccines since the 1930s as an adjuvant, which helps elicit a stronger immune response from the body.

But none of the three COVID-19 vaccines currently being used in the U.S. — Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, all of which have publicly accessible ingredient lists — contain any aluminum.

As for other vaccines, research has shown their levels of aluminum are so low that they can't easily be absorbed by the body, let alone the brain. There has been no evidence of the aluminum in vaccines causing illness or developmental disorders.

2. Nanoparticles that will help people "locate you" via 5G networks.

While your cell phone can help Big Brother, or your mother, locate you via 5G networks, the vaccines cannot. 

Yet some social media users likened the bubbles of fat in the vaccine to the sort of tracking microchips implanted under a pet’s skin. That’s a lot of creepy nonsense.

There is no evidence that the COVID-19 vaccines contain technology similar to pet microchips. The lipid nanoparticles used in some of the vaccines are called "nanoparticles" because they are very, very small. They have nothing to do with 5G networks or tracking technology.

3. "RNA-modifying transhumanism nanotechnology."

This baseless conspiracy theory says that the shots include a technology that changes "what it is to be human." The vaccines don’t contain any such thing.

"None of the vaccines contain nanotechnology of any sort, let alone 'transhumanism nanotechnology,’ which isn’t even a thing," Mark Lynas, a visiting fellow at the Alliance for Science and Cornell University, told PolitiFact. 

"RNA" and the prefix "nano" are valid scientific terms, though. Here’s what they mean:

"RNA" — ribonucleic acid — is a molecule that carries coded genetic information to a cell and a messenger form of RNA is used in the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to send information about the coronavirus to the body’s cells to teach the immune system to identify and prepare to fight off a COVID-19 infection. (Spoiler alert:It does not modify a person’s DNA or RNA.) The Johnson & Johnson vaccine uses a disabled adenovirus to deliver instructions to do the same.

"Nano," as we said earlier, is a term widely used to describe things that are very tiny, and scientists use the prefix more specifically to refer to things on the scale of individual atoms.

4. A "Trypanosoma Parasite" that is one of the causes of AIDS

A chilling, grainy black-and-white image being shared on social media has been described as a "Trypanosoma Parasite" purportedly observed in Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. Several variants of the parasite, internet users claimed, are lethal and are one of many causes of acquired immune deficiency syndrome or AIDS. 

This is erroneous, on all counts.

Dr. Bobbi Pritt, the director of clinical parasitology at the Mayo Clinic, told us the blurry image likely represents an out-of-focus non-cellular component of the vaccine and doesn’t show a Trypanosoma cruzi or any other parasite. 

As for the claim that this particular parasite causes AIDS, that’s also wrong, she said. 

"The only thing that causes AIDS is an infection with the human immunodeficiency virus," she said, "and this cannot be acquired through the Pfizer vaccine." 

5. Living microorganisms that can "germinate to cause sickness" with "all sorts of uncontrollable byproducts."

A popular video claimed that the Pfizer vaccine contains "particles that could germinate and cause illness" — and that vitamin supplements could stop this from happening. You can bet someone is selling those supplements online.

There’s no truth to this one either. The ingredients for Pfizer vaccines are chemical components — not living organisms. 

"Contamination with spores or other microbial material can theoretically happen during production of any biologic, including vaccines," said Volker Mai, associate professor in the epidemiology department at the University of Florida. "However, quality control is extensive and monitoring occurs continuously. Thus, it is highly unlikely that any contaminated batch would make it into the market."

6. Something that makes magnets stick to you

A vaccine turning you into the Marvel villain Magneto? That sounds terrifying (unless that’s what you wanted.) But don’t worry, the COVID-19 vaccines won’t make you more attractive to magnets.

Social media users have shared videos that appear to show magnets sticking to people’s arms where they say they were injected, and claimed this as proof the shots have microchips in them. 

But medical experts called the claim utter nonsense. 

Al Edwards, an associate professor in biomedical technology at the University of Reading in England, told Newsweek that because vaccine’s ingredients are some of the same things that are in the human body, "there is simply no way that injecting a tiny fragment of this material" could make it respond to a magnet. "Most food is made of similar molecules, and eating food doesn’t make people magnetic," he said. 

A similar claim cites a video showing what looks like small balls connecting and growing on their own. The disturbing clip was described as the COVID-19 vaccine’s reaction once it hits the bloodstream. 

That’s wrong. The video was actually from a 2015 science experiment by the Stanford Complexity Group, an initiative to bring complexity science to a wider audience, that shows self-organizing wires, which is still weird. 

One more time for the people in the back: None of the COVID-19 vaccines contain microchips or metals.

7. "Graphene oxide," which is "toxic to the human body and causes a number of problems."

An incendiary video that speaks of murder claims that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine is dangerously packed with something called graphene oxide. 

A Pfizer spokesperson told PolitiFact that while graphene oxide — a material made by the oxidation of graphite — is used in some vaccines, it is not used at Pfizer and is not in its COVID-19 vaccine.None of the listed ingredients is another name for graphene oxide, and the material doesn’t appear in ingredient lists for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. 

Republican COVID Policies Are Not Popular With U.S. Voters

The charts above are from a new Fox News Poll -- done between September 12th and 15th of a national sample of 1,002 registered voters, with a 3 point margin of error.

Republican officials, on both the state and national levels, have been playing politics with the COVID pandemic. They oppose both wearing of masks and any vaccine mandate. They know this appeals to their base, and they think it can help them in the 2022 election. They think the public will blame President Biden if the pandemic is still going strong next year.

But the public is not as stupid as Republicans think. They are tired of the pandemic, and they know it's the GOP that is keeping the pandemic going. This could easily hurt Republicans in the 2022 general election.

COVID Death Rate In The States And Territories Of U.S.

 

These charts, from The Washington Post, show the COVID death rate (per 100,000 people) in each of the states and territories of the United States.

Politics Is The Biggest Factor In Response To The Pandemic

Our national response to the continuing pandemic has been disappointing. Too many people are refusing to wear masks or get vaccinated. But the difference between the masked/vaccinated and the unmasked/unvaccinated doesn't have much to do with age, gender, race, religion,  sexual preference, or national origin. The biggest factor of all is sadly -- POLITICS. Republicans and red-states are far more likely to refuse to wear masks or get vaccinated, while Democrats and blue-states are far more likely to do both -- and that is born out by the statistics.

The following is from Philip Bump in The Washington Post:

It’s obvious that there’s an overlap of vaccination rates, party identity and pandemic outcomes that intertwines the discussion about the pandemic with partisan politics. It is inescapably the case that, even if party doesn’t play a significant role in pandemic outcomes, the debate is largely framed through a partisan lens anyway — often to a hyperbolic degree.

One reason for that is that there is an obvious string of correlations here. More deaths from the virus occur in places where there are more cases. There are more cases in places where vaccination rates are lower. Vaccination rates are lower in places that voted more heavily Republican in 2020. . . .

For example, here (top chart) is the relationship between cases, deaths, vaccinations and 2020 vote as of Thursday. Of the 23 states that have new case totals per capita higher than the nation overall, 21 voted for Donald Trump in November. Sixteen are among the 17 states that have the lowest rates of vaccination. Of the 18 states that have new death totals higher than the national ratio, 14 voted for Trump and 12 are among the 17 least-vaccinated states.

It’s also important to note that the pandemic is not unfolding the way it did last summer. If we take the difference between each state’s per-capita cases and deaths relative and the national figure and average it by 2020 vote, we see that red states are doing much worse relative to the country on the whole than are blue states. The vertical dashed lines below (middle chart) indicate Sept. 9, 2020, and Sept. 9, 2021 — that is, now and one year ago. Not only are cases and deaths now higher relative to the country overall than they were then, but the figures in blue states are much lower.

If we look at the same patterns using the vaccination-rate groupings (bottom chart), we see that it’s the least-vaccinated states that are being hit hardest, followed by the middle group and then the most-vaccinated states. . . .

Again, the chain of correlation here is indisputable: Republicans have been less concerned about the virus, less likely to embrace practices such as masking, more likely to express opposition to vaccination and (obviously) voted more heavily for Trump — and now, after vaccinations have been made broadly available, states that are seeing the most new cases and deaths are states that are less heavily vaccinated and were more supportive of Trump last year. All of that is obviously and provably true, making it much harder to assert that politics is not playing any role. . . .

The Pew Research Center regularly polls Americans to gauge the demographic identifiers that spur the broadest disagreement on issues. You might think that it’s gender or age or race. It isn’t. It’s party, by a mile. That party is now intertwined with the extent to which America is willing to tamp down on a deadly virus is, to put it mildly, disadvantageous.

Transcript Of The President's 9/9 Speech On The Pandemic

The President has begged and cajoled Americans into protecting themselves with masks and getting vaccinated. We could have the COVID-19 pandemic under control by now, and he knows it. But too many people refuse to cooperate, preferring to play politics instead of joining with their fellow Americans to fight the pandemic. President Biden is tired of the ignorance and stupidity of these people, and he's now taking action. Here is the transcript of his September 9th speech on the pandemic and the actions he is taking:

Good evening, my fellow Americans.  I want to talk to you about where we are in the battle against COVID-19, the progress we’ve made, and the work we have left to do.

And it starts with understanding this: Even as the Delta variant 19 [sic] has — COVID-19 — has been hitting this country hard, we have the tools to combat the virus, if we can come together as a country and use those tools.

If we raise our vaccination rate, protect ourselves and others with masking and expanded testing, and identify people who are infected, we can and we will turn the tide on COVID-19.

It will take a lot of hard work, and it’s going to take some time.  Many of us are frustrated with the nearly 80 million Americans who are still not vaccinated, even though the vaccine is safe, effective, and free.

You might be confused about what is true and what is false about COVID-19.  So before I outline the new steps to fight COVID-19 that I’m going to be announcing tonight, let me give you some clear information about where we stand.

First, we have cons- — we have made considerable progress
in battling COVID-19.  When I became President, about 2 million Americans were fully vaccinated.  Today, over 175 million Americans have that protection. 

Before I took office, we hadn’t ordered enough vaccine for every American.  Just weeks in office, we did.  The week before I took office, on January 20th of this year, over 25,000 Americans died that week from COVID-19.  Last week, that grim weekly toll was down 70 percent.

And in the three months before I took office, our economy was faltering, creating just 50,000 jobs a month.  We’re now averaging 700,000 new jobs a month in the past three months.

This progress is real.  But while America is in much better shape than it was seven months ago when I took office, I need to tell you a second fact.

We’re in a tough stretch, and it could last for a while.  The highly contagious Delta variant that I began to warn America about back in July spread in late summer like it did in other countries before us.

While the vaccines provide strong protections for the vaccinated, we read about, we hear about, and we see the stories of hospitalized people, people on their death beds, among the unvaccinated over these past few weeks. 

This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated.  And it’s caused by the fact that despite America having an unprecedented and successful vaccination program, despite the fact that for almost five months free vaccines have been available in 80,000 different locations, we still have nearly 80 million Americans
who have failed to get the shot. 

And to make matters worse, there are elected officials actively working to undermine the fight against COVID-19.  Instead of encouraging people to get vaccinated and mask up, they’re ordering mobile morgues for the unvaccinated dying from COVID in their communities.  This is totally unacceptable.

Third, if you wonder how all this adds up, here’s the math:  The vast majority of Americans are doing the right thing.  Nearly three quarters of the eligible have gotten at least one shot, but one quarter has not gotten any.  That’s nearly 80 million Americans not vaccinated.  And in a country as large as ours, that’s 25 percent minority.  That 25 percent can cause a lot of damage — and they are.

The unvaccinated overcrowd our hospitals, are overrunning the emergency rooms and intensive care units, leaving no room for someone with a heart attack, or pancreitis [pancreatitis], or cancer.

And fourth, I want to emphasize that the vaccines provide very strong protection from severe illness from COVID-19.  I know there’s a lot of confusion and misinformation.  But the world’s leading scientists confirm that if you are fully vaccinated, your risk of severe illness from COVID-19 is very low. 

In fact, based on available data from the summer, only one of out of every 160,000 fully vaccinated Americans was hospitalized for COVID per day.

These are the facts. 

So here’s where we stand: The path ahead, even with the Delta variant, is not nearly as bad as last winter.  But what makes it incredibly more frustrating is that we have the tools to combat COVID-19, and a distinct minority of Americans –supported by a distinct minority of elected officials — are keeping us from turning the corner.  These pandemic politics, as I refer to, are making people sick, causing unvaccinated people to die. 

We cannot allow these actions to stand in the way of protecting the large majority of Americans who have done their part and want to get back to life as normal. 

As your President, I’m announcing tonight a new plan to require more Americans to be vaccinated, to combat those blocking public health. 

My plan also increases testing, protects our economy, and will make our kids safer in schools.  It consists of six broad areas of action and many specific measures in each that — and each of those actions that you can read more about at WhiteHouse.gov.  WhiteHouse.gov.

The measures — these are going to take time to have full impact.  But if we implement them, I believe and the scientists indicate, that in the months ahead we can reduce the number of unvaccinated Americans, decrease hospitalizations and deaths, and allow our children to go to school safely and keep our economy strong by keeping businesses open.

First, we must increase vaccinations among the unvaccinated with new vaccination requirements.  Of the nearly 80 million eligible Americans who have not gotten vaccinated, many said they were waiting for approval from the Food and Drug Administration — the FDA.  Well, last month, the FDA granted that approval.

So, the time for waiting is over.  This summer, we made progress through the combination of vaccine requirements and incentives, as well as the FDA approval.  Four million more people got their first shot in August than they did in July. 

But we need to do more.  This is not about freedom or personal choice.  It’s about protecting yourself and those around you — the people you work with, the people you care about, the people you love.

My job as President is to protect all Americans. 

So, tonight, I’m announcing that the Department of Labor is developing an emergency rule to require all employers with 100 or more employees, that together employ over 80 million workers, to ensure their workforces are fully vaccinated or show a negative test at least once a week.

Some of the biggest companies are already requiring this: United Airlines, Disney, Tysons Food, and even Fox News.

The bottom line: We’re going to protect vaccinated workers from unvaccinated co-workers.  We’re going to reduce the spread of COVID-19 by increasing the share of the workforce that is vaccinated in businesses all across America.

My plan will extend the vaccination requirements that I previously issued in the healthcare field.  Already, I’ve announced, we’ll be requiring vaccinations that all nursing home workers who treat patients on Medicare and Medicaid, because I have that federal authority.

Tonight, I’m using that same authority to expand that to cover those who work in hospitals, home healthcare facilities, or other medical facilities –- a total of 17 million healthcare workers.

If you’re seeking care at a health facility, you should be able to know that the people treating you are vaccinated.  Simple.  Straightforward.  Period.

Next, I will sign an executive order that will now require all executive branch federal employees to be vaccinated — all.  And I’ve signed another executive order that will require federal contractors to do the same.

If you want to work with the federal government and do business with us, get vaccinated.  If you want to do business with the federal government, vaccinate your workforce. 

And tonight, I’m removing one of the last remaining obstacles that make it difficult for you to get vaccinated.

The Department of Labor will require employers with 100 or more workers to give those workers paid time off to get vaccinated.  No one should lose pay in order to get vaccinated or take a loved one to get vaccinated.

Today, in total, the vaccine requirements in my plan will affect about 100 million Americans –- two thirds of all workers. 

And for other sectors, I issue this appeal: To those of you running large entertainment venues — from sports arenas to concert venues to movie theaters — please require folks to get vaccinated or show a negative test as a condition of entry.

And to the nation’s family physicians, pediatricians, GPs — general practitioners –- you’re the most trusted medical voice to your patients.  You may be the one person who can get someone to change their mind about being vaccinated. 

Tonight, I’m asking each of you to reach out to your unvaccinated patients over the next two weeks and make a personal appeal to them to get the shot.  America needs your personal involvement in this critical effort.

And my message to unvaccinated Americans is this: What more is there to wait for?  What more do you need to see?  We’ve made vaccinations free, safe, and convenient.

The vaccine has FDA approval.  Over 200 million Americans have gotten at least one shot. 

We’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin.  And your refusal has cost all of us.  So, please, do the right thing.  But just don’t take it from me; listen to the voices of unvaccinated Americans who are lying in hospital beds, taking their final breaths, saying, “If only I had gotten vaccinated.”  “If only.”

It’s a tragedy.  Please don’t let it become yours.

The second piece of my plan is continuing to protect the vaccinated.

For the vast majority of you who have gotten vaccinated, I understand your anger at those who haven’t gotten vaccinated.  I understand the anxiety about getting a “breakthrough” case.

But as the science makes clear, if you’re fully vaccinated, you’re highly protected from severe illness, even if you get COVID-19.  

In fact, recent data indicates there is only one confirmed positive case per 5,000 fully vaccinated Americans per day.

You’re as safe as possible, and we’re doing everything we can to keep it that way — keep it that way, keep you safe.

That’s where boosters come in — the shots that give you even more protection than after your second shot.

Now, I know there’s been some confusion about boosters.  So, let me be clear: Last month, our top government doctors announced an initial plan for booster shots for vaccinated Americans.  They believe that a booster is likely to provide the highest level of protection yet.

Of course, the decision of which booster shots to give, when to start them, and who will give them, will be left completely to the scientists at the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control.

But while we wait, we’ve done our part.  We’ve bought enough boosters — enough booster shots — and the distribution system is ready to administer them.

As soon as they are authorized, those eligible will be able to get a booster right away in tens of thousands of site across the — sites across the country for most Americans, at your nearby drug store, and for free. 

The third piece of my plan is keeping — and maybe the most important — is keeping our children safe and our schools open.  For any parent, it doesn’t matter how low the risk of any illness or accident is when it comes to your child or grandchild.  Trust me, I know. 

So, let me speak to you directly.  Let me speak to you directly to help ease some of your worries.

It comes down to two separate categories: children ages 12 and older who are eligible for a vaccine now, and children ages 11 and under who are not are yet eligible.

The safest thing for your child 12 and older is to get them vaccinated.  They get vaccinated for a lot of things.  That’s it.  Get them vaccinated.

As with adults, almost all the serious COVID-19 cases we’re seeing among adolescents are in unvaccinated 12- to 17-year-olds — an age group that lags behind in vaccination rates.

So, parents, please get your teenager vaccinated.

What about children under the age of 12 who can’t get vaccinated yet?  Well, the best way for a parent to protect their child under the age of 12 starts at home.  Every parent, every teen sibling, every caregiver around them should be vaccinated.  

Children have four times higher chance of getting hospitalized if they live in a state with low vaccination rates rather than the states with high vaccination rates. 

Now, if you’re a parent of a young child, you’re wondering when will it be — when will it be — the vaccine available for them.  I strongly support an independent scientific review for vaccine uses for children under 12.  We can’t take shortcuts with that scientific work. 

But I’ve made it clear I will do everything within my power to support the FDA with any resource it needs to continue to do this as safely and as quickly as possible, and our nation’s top doctors are committed to keeping the public at large updated on the process so parents can plan.

Now to the schools.  We know that if schools follow the science and implement the safety measures — like testing, masking, adequate ventilation systems that we provided the money for, social distancing, and vaccinations — then children can be safe from COVID-19 in schools.

Today, about 90 percent of school staff and teachers are vaccinated.  We should get that to 100 percent.  My administration has already acquired teachers at the schools run by the Defense Department — because I have the authority as President in the federal system — the Defense Department and the Interior Department — to get vaccinated.  That’s authority I possess. 

Tonight, I’m announcing that we’ll require all of nearly 300,000 educators in the federal paid program, Head Start program, must be vaccinated as well to protect your youngest — our youngest — most precious Americans and give parents the comfort.

And tonight, I’m calling on all governors to require vaccination for all teachers and staff.  Some already have done so, but we need more to step up. 

Vaccination requirements in schools are nothing new.  They work.  They’re overwhelmingly supported by educators and their unions.  And to all school officials trying to do the right thing by our children: I’ll always be on your side. 

Let me be blunt.  My plan also takes on elected officials and states that are undermining you and these lifesaving actions.  Right now, local school officials are trying to keep children safe in a pandemic while their governor picks a fight with them and even threatens their salaries or their jobs.  Talk about bullying in schools.  If they’ll not help — if these governors won’t help us beat the pandemic, I’ll use my power as President to get them out of the way. 

The Department of Education has already begun to take legal action against states undermining protection that local school officials have ordered.  Any teacher or school official whose pay is withheld for doing the right thing, we will have that pay restored by the federal government 100 percent.  I promise you I will have your back. 

The fourth piece of my plan is increasing testing and masking.  From the start, America has failed to do enough COVID-19 testing.  In order to better detect and control the Delta variant, I’m taking steps tonight to make testing more available, more affordable, and more convenient.  I’ll use the Defense Production Act to increase production of rapid tests, including those that you can use at home. 

While that production is ramping up, my administration has worked with top retailers, like Walmart, Amazon, and Kroger’s, and tonight we’re announcing that, no later than next week, each of these outlets will start to sell at-home rapid test kits at cost for the next three months.  This is an immediate price reduction for at-home test kits for up to 35 percent reduction.

We’ll also expand — expand free testing at 10,000 pharmacies around the country.  And we’ll commit — we’re committing $2 billion to purchase nearly 300 million rapid tests for distribution to community health centers, food banks, schools, so that every American, no matter their income, can access free and convenient tests.  This is important to everyone, particularly for a parent or a child — with a child not old enough to be vaccinated.  You’ll be able to test them at home and test those around them.

In addition to testing, we know masking helps stop the spread of COVID-19.  That’s why when I came into office, I required masks for all federal buildings and on federal lands, on airlines, and other modes of transportation.  

Today — tonight, I’m announcing that the Transportation Safety Administration — the TSA — will double the fines on travelers that refuse to mask.  If you break the rules, be prepared to pay. 

And, by the way, show some respect.  The anger you see on television toward flight attendants and others doing their job is wrong; it’s ugly. 

The fifth piece of my plan is protecting our economic recovery.  Because of our vaccination program and the American Rescue Plan, which we passed early in my administration, we’ve had record job creation for a new administration, economic growth unmatched in 40 years.  We cannot let unvaccinated do this progress — undo it, turn it back. 

So tonight, I’m announcing additional steps to strengthen our economic recovery.  We’ll be expanding COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs.  That’s a program that’s going to allow small businesses to borrow up to $2 million from the current $500,000 to keep going if COVID-19 impacts on their sales. 

These low-interest, long-term loans require no repayment for two years and be can used to hire and retain workers, purchase inventory, or even pay down higher cost debt racked up since the pandemic began.  I’ll also be taking additional steps to help small businesses stay afloat during the pandemic. 

Sixth, we’re going to continue to improve the care of those who do get COVID-19.  In early July, I announced the deployment of surge response teams.  These are teams comprised of experts from the Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC, the Defense Department, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency — FEMA — to areas in the country that need help to stem the spread of COVID-19. 

Since then, the federal government has deployed nearly 1,000 staff, including doctors, nurses, paramedics, into 18 states.  Today, I’m announcing that the Defense Department will double the number of military health teams that they’ll deploy to help their fellow Americans in hospitals around the country. 

Additionally, we’re increasing the availability of new medicines recommended by real doctors, not conspir- — conspiracy theorists.  The monoclonal antibody treatments have been shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization by up to 70 percent for unvaccinated people at risk of developing sefe- — severe disease. 

We’ve already distributed 1.4 million courses of these treatments to save lives and reduce the strain on hospitals.  Tonight, I’m announcing we will increase the average pace of shipment across the country of free monoclonal antibody treatments by another 50 percent.

Before I close, let me say this: Communities of color are disproportionately impacted by this virus.  And as we continue to battle COVID-19, we will ensure that equity continues to be at the center of our response.  We’ll ensure that everyone is reached.  My first responsibility as President is to protect the American people and make sure we have enough vaccine for every American, including enough boosters for every American who’s approved to get one. 

We also know this virus transcends borders.  That’s why, even as we execute this plan at home, we need to continue fighting the virus overseas, continue to be the arsenal of vaccines. 

We’re proud to have donated nearly 140 million vaccines over 90 countries, more than all other countries combined, including Europe, China, and Russia combined.  That’s American leadership on a global stage, and that’s just the beginning.

We’ve also now started to ship another 500 million COVID vaccines — Pfizer vaccines — purchased to donate to 100 lower-income countries in need of vaccines.  And I’ll be announcing additional steps to help the rest of the world later this month.

As I recently released the key parts of my pandemic preparedness plan so that America isn’t caught flat-footed when a new pandemic comes again — as it will — next month, I’m also going to release the plan in greater detail.

So let me close with this: We have so- — we’ve made so much progress during the past seven months of this pandemic.  The recent increases in vaccinations in August already are having an impact in some states where case counts are dropping in recent days.  Even so, we remain at a critical moment, a critical time.  We have the tools.  Now we just have to finish the job with truth, with science, with confidence, and together as one nation.

Look, we’re the United States of America.  There’s nothing — not a single thing — we’re unable to do if we do it together.  So let’s stay together.

God bless you all and all those who continue to serve on the frontlines of this pandemic.  And may God protect our troops.

Get vaccinated.