[News] ANALYSIS | "I need you," Biden asks Americans to do their part to help the country emerge from the covid-19 pandemic

[WilkerCSBD]

CNN) - The light at the end of the tunnel may be the fireworks that explode in the air on July 4.

On Thursday, US President Joe Biden offered Americans the tantalizing hope of returning to a forgotten pre-pandemic normalcy in a few months, intensifying the "war base" on which he has placed the country to defeat the virus that has caused the worst internal crisis in generations.

In his first prime-time address, Biden took on the theatricality, responsibility and pastoral nature of the presidency like never before, posing a personal challenge to all citizens of a deeply polarized and distressed nation to get to work on Set to fight the virus and get vaccinated as soon as it is your turn.

The speech represented another radical break from the histrionics, boasting and lies of his predecessor, former President Donald Trump. Biden's evocation of an opening of the country was grounded in science, a profound strategy that is rooted in reasonable expectations of achievable results rather than the illusory and politically motivated predictions that Trump used to make.

ANALYSIS | 7 takeaways from Joe Biden's speech on covid-19 in primetime

Biden signs the stimulus package 5:01
Biden promised to do his part as president to restore confidence in the government, recognizing that faith in federal institutions had been destroyed by the previous administration's disastrous response to the pandemic. As part of his effort to help the nation return to normal life, Biden announced that he was directing all states, tribes, and territories to make all adults 18 and older eligible to be vaccinated by May 1, stating that his administration would build the infrastructure of clinics, vaccine doses, and medical staff to make that perspective a reality. But he also asked the American people to do his part.

I will not give in until we defeat this virus. But I need you, the American people. I need them, I need all Americans to do their part, ”Biden said. “I need them to get vaccinated when it is their turn and when they can find an opportunity. And they help their family, their friends, their neighbors to get vaccinated too. Because here's the point, if we do all of this, if we do our part, if we do this together, by the 4th of July, chances are good that you, your family, and your friends can get together in the backyard or in your neighborhood and do a cookout and barbecue and celebrating Independence Day… After this long and hard year, that will make this Independence Day truly special. "

Biden wants the US to defeat the pandemic and return to normal life
Biden's decision to raise the possibility of a return to normal life represented an attempt to persuade millions of Americans to overcome their skepticism about vaccines. It was also an implicit acknowledgment of exhaustion and impatience with the limitations of physical distancing, the disruption of family life, and the way restrictive measures have crippled the nation's economy.

It appears that Biden hopes that setting a date for the country's opening (July 4) will convince citizens to stick with restrictions and sensible behavior for a little longer, potentially saving tens of thousands of lives in the world. process. But by setting a deadline, he is also creating a barrier against which his administration will be judged. The pandemic has repeatedly undermined the predictions of top government officials who want to impose their own timetable on a pernicious and unpredictable virus, and he acknowledged that uncertainty in his speech.

"This fight is far from over," Biden said. “The goal is that on July 4 [you are] with your loved ones. But a goal can happen many things, conditions can change. Scientists have made it clear that things may get worse again as new variants of the virus spread. '
 

President Biden's speech was a bid to build his own political momentum hours after he signed into law a $ 1.9 trillion covid aid package that represents the most focused government effort to fight poverty in decades. . But he also sought to show humanity distilled from a life of personal loss by mentioning the loss of life from the pandemic. He pulled a card from his pocket that counted the lost lives of Americans, which he said he carries with him every day. He also tried to convey to Americans that he understands the trauma experienced by those who survived or did not get sick, referring to the crushed dreams of those who lost their jobs, homes, hopes, weddings, graduations, and first dates and family reunions.

"We all lost something, a collective suffering, a collective sacrifice, a year full of loss of life and loss of life for all of us," said Biden, almost leading a moment of national catharsis.

He then he sought to bring national resolve arisen out of adversity to create a common and unified sense of national purpose, to finally bring the country out of the darkness of the pandemic in light of a better future.