While White House press secretary Jen Psaki distributed some of the liability to unvaccinated people, she admitted that "the buck" stops with Biden.
"There was an assumption several months ago before the rise in delta that we would be over and through and back to normal at this point in time, and we're not," she said. "And that's frustrating, and that's impacting people."
But Psaki echoed that the "way to solve" the problem and move on from these "emotionally exhausting" and "difficult times" was to "continue to get more people vaccinated."
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"And that's what we're working on every day," she said, later mentioning vaccine mandates.
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The Axios /Ipsos Coronavirus Index discovered this week that 45% of people surveyed told pollsters they trust Biden "a great deal" or "a fair amount" to present them "accurate information about the virus and pandemic," while 53% of people said they have "little or "no trust" in him. In January, those numbers were 58% and 42%, respectively.
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Biden's COVID-19 response troubles are boiling up while he is fighting to pass his sprawling domestic agenda through Congress, the federal government is on the brink of closing, and the country may default on its debts if lawmakers do not agree to extend its borrowing limit by Oct. 18.
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The White House and congressional Democrats were working on a stopgap funding measure that needs to clear Congress before Sept. 30 to keep the government open from Oct. 1, according to Psaki.
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"Our intention is to get a [continuing resolution] passed so that we do not shut the government plan. [The Office of Management and Budget] has been preparing for any contingency and to update contingency plans as needed," Psaki said.
Other than mask mandates in the workplace, few Americans are currently directed to COVID-related requirements at work or in public. Still, there are signs that incremental increases are starting to take place.
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Fifty-eight percent of employed Americans say their employer is requiring masks at the office. Of all scenarios asked in the survey, this is the only one where most respondents say it is something they are personally experiencing.
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Compared to a month ago, more say their employer is requiring masks at work (58% now vs. 51% in mid-August).
Few more report their employer putting a vaccine requirement in place, though it is still a minority of the employed that are facing this (25% now, up from 16% in mid-August).