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President Joe Biden is set to deliver his first primetime address Thursday evening hours after signing into law a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill.
Biden is expected to announce that he will direct states to make all adults eligible for a Covid vaccine by May 1.
The address marks the president’s 50th day in office and comes exactly a year after state and local government began imposing lockdowns in an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19 and limit the fallout from the pandemic.
The president is expected to praise his first major legislative achievement. Democrats passed the sweeping American Rescue Plan in the House Wednesday and Senate Saturday.
Biden is also expected to discuss current guidance at this stage in the pandemic. Biden’s remarks come after he met with the CEOs of Johnson & Johnson and Merck on Wednesday.
“I’m going on prime time to address the American people and talk about what we went through as a nation this past year. But more importantly, I’m going to talk about what comes next,” Biden said in a preview Wednesday.
Nearly 30 million U.S. citizens have contracted the virus and more than 500,000 people have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Just over 95 million have been administered a vaccine, according to CDC data, with more than 62 million receiving at least one dose and nearly 33 million fully vaccinated.
“There is light at the end of this dark tunnel over the past year. We cannot let our guard down now or assume that victory is inevitable,” Biden said in the briefing Wednesday.