President Joe Biden is expected to unveil the framework for a new six-pronged plan to combat the coronavirus pandemic and encourage individuals to get vaccinated amid the surge of the Delta variant, according to the White House.
“On Thursday, the President will speak to the American people about his robust plan to stop the spread of the Delta variant and boost vaccinations,” a White House official said on Tuesday.
“As the president has said since Day 1, his administration will pull every lever to get the pandemic under control. On Thursday, the President will lay out a six pronged strategy that will help us do just that, working across the public and private sectors.”
The administration announced its support of booster shots in August, with additional vaccines expected to be made available to most Americans starting Sept. 20. It is unclear if it will expand mandates for vaccinations or mask wearing, or begin to mandate them for the booster shots.
The administration’s plan to launch a new strategy comes as the United States has seen a sharp uptick in areas with low vaccination rates. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s data tracker, the country is seeing a seven-day average of 137,270 new cases daily, and 20,800 deaths within the past 14 days.
And Alaska, Hawaii, Georgia, Idaho, Tennessee, Kentucky and Washington have seen an uptick in hospitalizations of individuals who have contracted the virus.
Concerns have emerged from some over how to best safely have children return to school and could impact certain companies’ plans to have employees return to offices.
According to the CDC, 74.8 percent of adults have received at least one vaccine with 64 percent having been fully vaccinated while 62 percent of the total population has received one shot, with 53 percent having been fully vaccinated.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Air Force 1 that the administration is “working across the public and private sectors to help continue to get the pandemic under control,” according to Reuters, but noted that they do not have the ability to blanket mandate that individuals get vaccinated.
“We need to continue to take more steps to make sure school districts are prepared and make sure communities across the country are prepared,” she said.