More than 51 percent of American adults have received at least one vaccine dose, according to CDC data, indicating that herd immunity and the pandemic’s end are nearing closer.
However, President Biden said at the White House that he’s not yet comfortable declaring that people can hold small outdoor gatherings on Independence Day.
“Back on March 11, I outlined a vision of what America could look like by the Fourth of July — an America that was much closer to normal life that we left behind more than a year ago,” Biden noted.
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He then warned: “To celebrate our independence from this virus on July 4th with family and friends in small groups, we still have more to do in the months of May and June. We all need to mask up until the number of cases goes down, until everyone has a chance to get their shot.”
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Biden proposed in a March primetime address that people could host “small” outdoor gatherings for the summer holiday. The idea drew Republican criticism due to the efficacy of vaccines and low outdoor transmission rates.
Retired Admiral Brett Giroir, assistant secretary of health last year, countered Biden, proclaiming that “by July, we should be almost back to normal with herd immunity, with everybody getting vaccines.”
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“I don’t know what reality he’s talking about,” Giroir stressed. “It seemed very disconnected from reality and where we are and what science says. Science says small gatherings outdoors is fine.”
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Giroir, who previously served as the Trump administration's "testing czar" during the coronavirus pandemic, said Americans should be able to attend small gatherings long before Biden's July Fourth suggestion.
"Way back in November, we talked about every American having vaccines available by June, and that was with the vaccines that we had then available, so this is about the same target that we had," Giroir told Fox News on Friday. "It was kind of crazy, what was said about July Fourth."
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"It seemed very disconnected from reality and where we are and what science says," he added. "Science says small gatherings outdoors is fine."
Giroir said he had high expectations for the president's remarks, but was "sorely disappointed" by what Biden had to say in his first prime-time White House address to the public.
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) commented that “the president’s proclamation was far out of step with what’s already happening across the country.”
“It was advice for an alternate universe. The president and his advisers may need to get out more,” McConnell said. “”Americans are already getting together in small groups outdoors in blue states and red states, in small towns and big cities. The country is not locked down waiting for July 4.”
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