On Tuesday afternoon, President Joe Biden addressed the nation with regard to the Wuhan coronavirus vaccine being made available to children 6 months to 5 years old. He mistakenly referred to the vaccine as being made available to children 5 and older when he meant younger throughout his remarks, though.
Happening Now: President Biden delivers remarks on COVID-19 vaccines for children under five and the historic progress the country has made in fighting COVID-19 with safe, effective vaccines available to Americans. https://t.co/PpdILhSxVl
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 21, 2022
Beyond the slip-up, the president made some interesting comments in that he seemed to return back to the White House's feud with Florida and its Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, although not by name.
"And let’s be clear: Elected officials shouldn’t get in the way and make it more difficult for parents who want their children to be vaccinated, who want to protect them and those around them. This is no time for politics. It’s about parents being able to do everything they can to keep their children safe," the president declared.
As Madeline has covered, Florida stands by its decision to not administer the vaccine for children so young.
Guy discussed the vaccines in young children and DeSantis's response on his radio program on Tuesday and has more coming later today.
Parents overall seem hesitant, as Maddy covered last week in light of the roll out, citing a Kaiser Family Foundation poll where just 18 percent are eager to get the vaccine right away, while 38 percent want to "wait and see" and 27 percent definitely will not. She also noted:
This age group is the least at-risk of experiencing severe symptoms of COVID. The American Academy of Pediatrics reported that children represent less than 20% of all recorded COVID cases. They also found only 0.1% to 1.5% of child COVID cases result in hospitalization and 0% to 0.02% of child COVID cases are fatal.
Many of the medical professionals who are not opposed to the pediatric vaccine's rollout said they don't think the shot is totally necessary, saying the risks of the shot are low, but so are the risks of the illness for the youngest children.
The president also made eyebrow-raising remarks while taking questions on a wide range of issues. As it pertains to the pandemic and vaccines, Biden defended his demand of Congress for more money by claiming there will be "a second pandemic."
BIDEN: "We need more money to plan for the second pandemic. There's going to be another pandemic." pic.twitter.com/MoMemMRxZL
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) June 21, 2022
Biden didn't even answer the question posed to him, it turns out. While Biden had been asked about funding from Congress, the reporter specifically asked how many vaccines will be provided for this age group given the current funding situation.
"Well, we’ll get through at least this year. We do need more money," Biden said initially.
"But we don’t just need more money for vaccines for children, eventually; we need more money to plan for the second pandemic. There’s going to be another pandemic. We have to think ahead. And that’s not something the last outfit did very well. That’s something we’ve been doing fairly well. That’s why we need the money," he continued with before trying to leave the event.