Coronavirus: Biden tells Americans to ‘act like they care’ and get vaccinated

The US president expressed pointed frustration over his country’s slowing vaccination rate, pleading for Americans to step up and get inoculated

‘If you’re vaccinated, you’re not going to be hospitalised, you’re not going to be in the IC unit, and you’re not going to die’, he told a forum in Cincinnati

Reading Time:2 minutes

US President Joe Biden speaks during a town hall-style interview at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:37am, 22 Jul 2021Updated: 9:37am, 22 Jul 2021

US President Joe Biden expressed pointed frustration on Wednesday over the slowing Covid-19 vaccination rate in the US and pleaded that it’s “gigantically important” for Americans to step up and get inoculated for the virus as it surges once again.

Biden, speaking at a televised town hall in Cincinnati, said the public health crisis has turned largely into a plight of the unvaccinated as the spread of the Delta variant has led to a surge in infections around the country.

“We have a pandemic for those who haven’t gotten the vaccination – it’s that basic, that simple,” he said on the CNN town hall.

Nurses wait for people wanting a Covid-19 jab at a mobile pop-up vaccination clinic in Detroit on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

The president also expressed optimism that children under 12 will be approved for vaccination in the coming months. But he displayed exasperation that so many eligible Americans are still reluctant to get a shot.

“If you’re vaccinated, you’re not going to be hospitalised, you’re not going to be in the IC unit, and you’re not going to die,” Biden said at the forum at Mount St. Joseph University. “So it’s gigantically important that … we all act like Americans who care about our fellow Americans.”