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This is VOA news. Via remote, I'm Marissa Melton. Nine out of 10 adults in the United States will be eligible for a coronavirus vaccine three weeks from now. Those are the words of President Joe Biden, talking Monday during remarks that also contained a warning of a devastating resurgence of COVID-19 in this country. Biden said with the number of cases rising again, Americans are in what he called "a life-and-death race." He talked about the spread of new variants of the virus and condemned what he called "reckless behavior" betrayed on television in recent weeks, such as college students gathering in Miami beach for their traditional spring break party week. Biden warned that that type of behavior means "more new cases are to come in the weeks ahead." At the White House, with Vice President Kamala Harris standing in the background Monday, Biden reiterated his call to governors, mayors and other local leaders not to relax restrictions on the mandatory wearing of masks.
Earlier in the day, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rochelle Walensky, expressed a feeling of, in her words, "impending doom," regarding the virus. She compared the United States to Europe, where another wave of coronavirus infections is now sweeping the continent. Walensky said the latest virus figures from around the United States show the daily average for infections rising by 10 percent over the past week to nearly 70,000 per day. Hospitalizations were up by more than 4 percent and deaths by almost 3 percent.
Republicans are criticizing President Biden for being too slow to reopen the economy and what they deemed an overly cautious approach. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said on Twitter, "What America needs now is to fully reopen our economy and our classrooms." From Washington, you're listening to VOA news.
