In an interview on “60 Minutes” on Sunday night, President Biden said the COVID-19 pandemic is “over” in the United States.
“The pandemic is over. We still have one with COVID. We are still working a lot. . . But the pandemic is over,” Mr. Biden said.
The interview was conducted while walking through the Detroit Auto Show last week. Gesturing around the room, Biden observed, “If you notice, no one is wearing a mask. Everyone turns out to be in good shape. So I think that’s changing. And I think that’s the best example. “
Biden’s comments came here just weeks after his administration asked Congress for billions of dollars for its testing and vaccination efforts.
The statements contradict statements made by his own aides earlier this month, as they suggested Americans seek an updated recall ahead of a dreaded fall and winter wave of the virus.
“The pandemic is over. And we will remain vigilant and, of course, continue to study and prepare for unforeseen twists and turns,” Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House’s most sensible COVID-19 official, told reporters in September. 6
COVID-19 deaths still average about 400 per day nationwide, degrees the federal fitness has labeled “still too high. “
Officials said a COVID-19 public fitness emergency declaration is expected to be renewed at least once again this year.
But COVID restrictions have largely been lifted in the U. S. They have returned to pre-pandemic levels.
The speed of new hospitalizations due to the virus has also slowed, particularly after the summer wave driven by Omicron’s BA. 4 and BA. 5 subvariants. Officials have credited widespread immunity to vaccines and past infections, as well as the increasing use of COVID-19 remedies such as Pfizer’s Paxlovid, to help prevent the virus’ death toll despite a wave of summer infections.
Jha and others have portrayed the fall surge as a component of ensuring that Americans can continue to “go back to school, work and their old routines after the summer. “
But with the president’s pandemic investment requests still languishing in Congress, management officials say they are now running at the top of the COVID-19 response’s federally funded arms.
The president noted that the pandemic is one of the main reasons his approval score is well below 50%.
“It’s a really tough time,” he told CBS News correspondent Scott Pelley. “We are at a turning point in the history of this country. We’re going to make decisions, and we’re making them now, that are going to determine how we’re going to look in the next ten years. I think he will agree that the impact on the psyche of other Americans as a result of the pandemic is profound. “
“Think about how he replaced everything. You know, other people’s attitudes toward themselves, their families, the state of the nation, the state of their communities. And then there was a lot of uncertainty, a lot of uncertainty. And we lost a million. other people. One million other people because of COVID,” the president said.
“When I came to power, when I elected, only 2 million more people had been vaccinated. I made 220 million, what I mean is that it takes time. We are in a very complicated situation. It is a very complicated time. Very misleading. “
Alexander Tin of CBS News contributed to this report.