The NPR Politics Podcast - Biden: All Americans Eligible To Get Vaccine Beginning May 1

Episode Date: March 12, 2021

In his first primetime address as president, Joe Biden said he believes the country can be more or less back to normal by Independence Day. But he cautioned that the nation needs to remain vigilant and unified in order to prevent a resurgence of the virus.This episode: political reporter Danielle Kurtzleben, White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez, and senior political editor and correspondent Ron Elving.Connect:Subscribe to the NPR Politics Podcast here.Email the show at [e-mail] the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.Listen to our playlist The NPR Politics Daily Workout.Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter.Find and support your local public radio station.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Hey there, it is the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Danielle Kurtzleben. I cover politics. I'm Frank Ordonez. I cover the White House. And I'm Ron Elbing, editor-correspondent. It is Thursday, March 11th, and it is 9.26 p.m., quite a bit later than we usually tape. And that's because we're talking after President Biden made his first primetime address as president, marking one year of the pandemic. It is a sobering marker, but we are going to start tonight with some big and hopeful news that he delivered. Here's what he said.

Tonight, I'm announcing that I will direct all states, tribes, and territories to make all adults, people 18 and over, eligible to be vaccinated no later than May 1. Let me say that again. All adult Americans will be eligible to get a vaccine no later than May 1. That's much earlier than expected. Franco, that is a huge announcement. So tell us more about what exactly President Biden said would happen.

Yeah, I mean, saying that everyone eligible to get their shot by May 1st is a big deal. He was clear, though, that that doesn't necessarily mean that they will be able to get their vaccines immediately, but that they can sign up for their appointments. They can basically get in line now to make sure that they do get their vaccines soon after he's doing some more things. And that includes doubling the number of pharmacies who will have the vaccines. And he's also expanding who can give the vaccines to include people like dentists and medical students. He's also going to announce a new Web site to launch in May to make it easier for people to find vaccines and make appointments. So there are a lot of things. And he basically challenged Americans as well to come together, to call for unity and said, if you guys work together, if you continue to wash your hands,

if you continue to wear your mask, if you get vaccines when they're available to them, then soon we may be able to do small gatherings. And he made a goal of July 4th as that time to do it for the July 4th holiday. And Ron, I want to get at something that Franco mentioned there, that big symbolic goal that everyone, you might be able to spend your Independence Day with your loved ones actually celebrating in person, which is, yeah, a welcome change. What did you make of him balancing the vigilance versus hopefulness with something like that? He began with a kind of gravity about what we've been through over the last year. Then he moved on to some rather hopeful news about just how far along we are in providing vaccines and getting them into arms. And then there was, as you say, this symbolic promise of Independence Day being our independence from the virus. Small groups will be able to get together after this long, hard year that will make this Independence Day something truly special,

where we not only mark our independence as a nation, but we begin to mark our independence from this virus. And there was a point there where it almost seemed as he was going to break into the speech from the movie Independence Day that I know a lot of us have heard and, you know, sort of laughed about over the years, you know, an over-the-top inspirational speech built around the idea of American independence. And yet it does have a certain amount of power. It does have a certain amount of force. People would love to be able to say it's behind us by the 4th of July. And of course, they would love to have those backyard picnics that the president seems to be promising us. Right. And I definitely thought of Bill Pullman giving the Independence Day speech, too.

You were definitely not alone there. But wait, but there was something really interesting going on in the speech, I thought, was that sort of careful line he was walking. Like Franco said, you'll be eligible, but not necessarily able to get your shots right away. You might be able to see your families on July 4th, but not necessarily able to get your shots right away. You might be able to see your families on July 4th, but the gatherings might not be huge. And along those lines, he also warns that the battle isn't won yet, that getting back to normal requires national unity. And national unity is, of course, a big thing for Joe Biden. We need everyone to get vaccinated.

We need everyone to keep washing their hands, stay socially distanced, and keep wearing the mask as recommended by the CDC. Because even if we devote every resource we have, beating this virus and getting back to normal depends on national unity. And national unity isn't just how politics and politicians vote in Washington, what the loudest voices say on cable or online. Unity is what we do together as fellow Americans. Because if we don't stay vigilant and the conditions change, then we may have to reinstate restrictions to get back on track. And please, we don't want to do that again. We've made so much progress. This is not the time to let up. Guys, there was so much unity in the speech. And tonally, politically, this felt like

Biden was just very on brand. He was the comforter in chief. He was frank. Then there was solidarity. There was hope. So aside from the policy news comforter in chief. He was frank. Then there was solidarity. There was hope. So aside from the policy news, what did you both think he was trying to convey to the country? Frankel, let's start with you. Well, you know, I think he was trying to, you know, match, you know, kind of the mood. He wanted to, you know, recognize and acknowledge the devastating impact that this virus has had on so many Americans. You know, he talked a lot about loneliness. He talked about the, you know, the last year seeming like another era. And frankly, you know, there's few, probably few presidents who do kind of grief and

can really connect with people in that way better than President Biden because of his own personal history. But, you know, at the same time, he also wanted to end on a more positive note. I was fascinated by how, you know, kind of like the tone of voice went from kind of a whisper in the beginning to a much more forceful language when he was calling for that unity and challenging people to come together and saying the fight is not over. And I thought he was really trying to strike that balance. And I think he was able to do that. That was certainly the goal, the idea being to tell people there was reason to be hopeful. The American Rescue Plan has passed. That was signed into law today. They're going to celebrate it at the White House tomorrow. There are reasons to pump your fist. But then at the same time, you've got to go on

wearing a mask. You still can't gather willy-nilly with everybody you might want to. We are still in pandemic mode. So there's a lot of contradiction in that. And it's hard to negotiate it. I thought it was effective, though, to pick out on things like, say, the pharmacies, that you can go to the same place where you get your flu shot. That seems so benign compared to what people have had to go through to get the shots up to now. It makes it seem like something you don't really need to be afraid of, something that, you know, is as ordinary as an annual flu shot. And that's reassuring as well. All right, let's take a quick break and we'll talk more about Joe Biden's speech when we come back. as ordinary as an annual flu shot. And that's reassuring as well. All right, let's take a quick break and we'll talk more about Joe Biden's speech when we come back. Watermelon water actually tastes like watermelon. The blackberry water tastes like blackberries. Hint is water with a touch of true fruit flavor. You can get Hint water at stores, or you can have it delivered directly to your door. When you buy two cases, you'll get a third case free and free shipping. Visit drinkhint.com and use promo code NPR at checkout.

On NPR's Consider This podcast, we help you make sense of one big story in the news every day, like how to combat disinformation and conspiracy theories, which pose a real threat to democracy, and what life looks like after you're vaccinated, the next phase of do's and don'ts. All that in 15 minutes every weekday. Listen now to Consider This from NPR.

And we are back. Now, Franco, we would be remiss if we didn't talk more about the fact that the president signed his huge American Rescue Act today. An historic piece of legislation that delivers immediate relief to millions of people,

includes $1,400 in direct rescue checks, payments. Something that struck me during the speech was that, yes, he did address that, but he only took, to my ear, a pretty brief part of the speech to address the American Rescue Act. It came late in the speech. It wasn't maybe the victory lap that he might have otherwise done. What did you make of that? I thought that was interesting, too.

I did anticipate or think that we would hear more about that. Perhaps he is saving that. I mean, as we know, he is going to be going oncrossing the country talking about the relief bill and what is in it and why people should appreciate it. It's something that he had commented even just a few weeks ago to members of Congress that President Obama, when he would have a victory, that he didn't talk it up enough. He kind of joked that former President Obama was too modest and wouldn't take a victory lap. Well, Biden is obviously going to do that. So it was interesting that he did not talk about it as much in the speech, but he's going to have no choice for the next week.

We have talked about how tonight was the one-year anniversary of when the country found out just how serious the pandemic was going to be and the shutdowns began. It's also 11 years, almost of a day, this month, when Joe Biden famously told Barack Obama on the signing of the Affordable Care Act that it was a big deal. And trying to emphasize... Paraphrasing. Big pause deal. Yes, I put a little pause in there. But he got famous for the mic picking up the word he actually said. And that was a moment where Biden was saying to Obama,

you know, you really ought to be more excited, dude. You know, this is a big deal. But of course, it wasn't the end of the road with respect to the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare. It was extraordinarily difficult from then on, even though it had been signed into law and has been a struggle for 11 years. So, you know, Joe Biden knows the importance of playing it up when you get that moment of triumph, but he also knows that no moment of triumph lasts for very long before the real work begins. Yeah, I think he doesn't want that mission accomplished banner type moment. So, Ron, let's turn to one more thing here, which is that it really does feel like things are starting to move, that after a year we might really be on the cusp of life

getting back to something vaguely approaching normal. I'm wondering whether it's the Rescue Act or the spike in vaccinations. Does any of the goodwill Biden might get from that help him politically? I mean, and maybe even more fundamentally, how much goodwill do we think he will get from that? And will it help him pass more non-COVID legislation? The NPR poll that we put out today is showing that the rescue plan is popular, a good deal more popular than Joe Biden himself, whose approval rating is pretty much right around even, just around, I think, 49%. So the plan is much more popular than he is. If it works, it should certainly help him. It should certainly help Democrats across the board if it works. But

there's going to be a long haul. There's going to be a long road ahead. And I think what's making people feel better is the lifting of a lot of restrictions. You know, the state of Maryland just this week said y'all can go back to restaurants indoors and really encouraging people to do it, making a pretty good size change from their previous advice. And as people feel they can do that, whether it's because of a government program or because they feel more confident in the vaccine, as people can do that, then the country will feel better. And let's just remember that there is a long road ahead politically as well. I mean, you know, the Democrats have such a thin majority in Congress, and no Republicans supported this bill. Now, you know, there's questions about whether this could

increase that. But, you know, I think the strategy certainly seems to be among Republicans is, you know, let's see how this rolls out. Let's see what type of problems they are. And they seem to be taking the strategy that they're going to let Joe Biden own this and kind of pick away at how it's implemented and see if there are problems with how it's implemented and use that to their political advantage. Will that work? We don't know. But I think what will determine that is how does the economy look and how is the pandemic looking in six months from now, a year from now, that kind of thing. Right. Well, we will be keeping an eye on how much a $1.9 trillion

injection into the economy changes things. But for now, this is where we're going to leave it. We will be back tomorrow with our weekly roundup. Until then, I'm Danielle Kurtzleben. I cover politics. I'm Frank Oredonia as I cover the White House. And I'm Ron Elving, editor correspondent. And thank you for listening to the NPR Politics Podcast.