Coronavirus

President Biden: 'Never Been More Important' To Get Vaccinated

The Biden administration announced five efforts to increase vaccinations.

President Biden: 'Never Been More Important' To Get Vaccinated
Dylan Lovan / AP

The COVID-19 delta variant continues to spread as President Biden and health experts say if you're not vaccinated already now is the time to get a shot. 

The president says the variant is responsible for half of the COVID-19 cases in many parts of the country.

"If you're vaccinated you're protected, but if you're unvaccinated, you're not. And you're putting yourself, and more importantly maybe from your perspective, your family and your friends at risk. So please get vaccinated now. It works. It's free. It's never been easier and it's never been more important," said President Biden.

We've been talking about low vaccination rates for several weeks now, so what's being done to get more shots into people's arms?

The Biden administration is focusing on five initiatives starting with door to door outreach. The plan is to also get more vaccines to primary care doctors so people can get shots from someone they trust; getting vaccines to pediatricians so COVID vaccinations can be included in back-to-school checkups; improving worker access to vaccines by bringing vaccines to workplaces or giving employees paid time off to get vaccinated; and expanding mobile vaccine clinics.

So far, nearly 90% of seniors and 70% of Americans over 27 years old have gotten at least one shot.  A total of 160 million Americans will be fully vaccinated by the end of this week.