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  • 2021-04-22 (xsd:date)
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  • ‘Biden Tells Un-Vaccinated Americans They May Have to Cancel the... (en)
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  • ‘Biden Tells Un-Vaccinated Americans They May Have to Cancel the Fourth of July’ Claim U.S. President Joe Biden said Americans who do not mask up or get the vaccine may have to cancel the Fourth of July. Rating Not True Like this fact check? Reporting On April 22 2021, repeat disinformation offender Hannity.com published a post with the outrage-bait headline, JOE NO! Biden Tells Un-Vaccinated Americans They May Have to Cancel the Fourth of July, which contained a single paragraph of original content: President Biden issued a dire warning to un-vaccinated Americans this week [ending April 23 2021]; saying those unwilling to mask-up for the next few months and receive the injection may have to cancel their Fourth of July celebrations. The remaining verbiage of the article was lifted froma New York Post article, itself headlined , Biden warns if Americans don’t get COVID jabs they might have to cancel July 4. It began: President Biden on [April 21 2021] warned Americans they may have to cancel small outdoor gatherings on the Fourth of July if there’s a slowdown of COVID-19 vaccinations. Florida is where wokes go to die... Please enable JavaScript Florida is where wokes go to die [...] Back on March 11 [2021], I outlined a vision of what America could look like by the Fourth of July — an America that was much closer to normal life that we left behind more than a year ago, Biden said. He warned: To celebrate our independence from this virus on July 4th with family and friends in small groups, we still have more to do in the months of May and June. We all need to mask up until the number of cases goes down, until everyone has a chance to get their shot. Further into the item, the story added: Retired Admiral Brett Giroir , assistant secretary of health last year [2021], countered Biden , saying that by July [2021], we should be almost back to normal with herd immunity, with everybody getting vaccines. Text for countered Biden linked to a March 12 2021 Newsweek article (Brett Giroir, Trump’s COVID Testing Czar, Disputes Biden’s Timeline for Gatherings): Former Assistant Secretary of Health Brett Giroir is disputing President Joe Biden’s proposed timeline for the return of social gatherings, arguing that Americans should be able to socialize much sooner than the president is suggesting. Giroir, who previously served as the Trump administration’s testing czar during the coronavirus pandemic, said Americans should be able to attend small gatherings long before Biden’s July Fourth suggestion. Way back in November [2020], we talked about every American having vaccines available by June [2021], and that was with the vaccines that we had then available, so this is about the same target that we had, Giroir told Fox News on Friday. It was kind of crazy, what was said about July Fourth. In that context, it appeared as if Biden made remarks about the safety of gatherings on April 21 2021, and that Giroir responded to Biden’s commentary — however, clicking through to the linked Newsweek piece clearly showed that it was more than a month old and could not have been in response to vaccination rates as of late April 2021. The New York Post neglected to further explain the context, setting, or source of Biden’s purported remarks. Searching for some of the directly quoted aspects finally led us to a WhiteHouse.gov Briefing Room page , with Remarks by President Biden on the COVID-19 Response and the State of Vaccinations filed under Speeches and Remarks. The briefing was dated April 21 2021. A timestamp beginning at 1:45 PM local time indicated that Biden spoke for 15 minutes, until 2 PM. It began: South Court Auditorium 1:45 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everyone. Back in December [2020], I set a goal of administering 100 million shots — vaccine shots in my first 100 days in office. At the time, some told us that it couldn’t be done, it was awfully ambitious. But we did it in 58 days because of the incredible staff I have. And so I set a second goal to deliver 200 million shots in my first 100 days in office — a goal unmatched in the world or in prior mass vaccination efforts in American history. When tomorrow’s vaccine — vaccination numbers come out, it will show that, today, we did it. Today [April 21 2021], we hit 200 million shots on the 92nd day in office. Two hundred million shots in 100 days — in under 100 days, actually. It’s an incredible achievement for the nation, and here’s the context: You know, at the pace we were moving when I took office, it would have taken us more than 220 days — almost seven months — seven and a half months — to reach 200 million shots. Instead of marking this milestone in April [2021], we would not have seen it until early September [2021] at the earliest. Some experts say that our — the rapid vaccination effort has already saved tens of thousands of American lives. We’ll never know exactly, but we know it saved lives that would have otherwise been lost. Biden continued, addressing matters like in-person schooling, and he referenced the open availability of vaccines, adding that now is the time for everyone over 16 years of age to get vaccinated. It is further true that Biden discussed the vaccination effort, and he indeed linked it to July 4 2021: But let me close with this: Back on March 11th [2021], I outlined a vision of what America could look like by the Fourth of July [2021] — an America that was much closer to normal life that we left behind more than a year ago. We remain on track for that goal. In the week[s] since then, more than 120 million shots have been given since I announced the July 4th proposal. More of our kids are back in school. And after a long and painful year, more grandparents are able to hug their grandkids again. It’s great progress. But if we let up now and stop being vigilant, this virus will erase the progress we’ve already achieved, the sacrifices we’ve made, the lives that been put on hold, the loved ones who’ve been taken from us, the time we’re never going to get back. To celebrate our independence from this virus on July 4th [2021] with family and friends in small groups, we still have more to do in the months of May and June [2021]. We all need to mask up until the number of cases goes down, until everyone has a chance to get their shot. To Americans 16 years and older, it’s your turn now. Now. So go get your vaccine before the end of May [2021]. We can do this. And we’ll do this as long as we don’t let up. Thank you all very much. As I said a long time ago, we’re going to beat this as long as we do it together. And I want to again thank my COVID team. I want to thank the Vice President. I want to thank Jeff Zients behind me and the entire COVID team for putting this together. May God protect our troops. May God bless you all. Thank you. Thank you. At the end of Biden’s remarks, two reporters asked questions unrelated to the July 4th; one was about rising cases in other countries, and the other was about decreasing demand for vaccines. Biden addressed assistance to nations with higher rates of infections, and concluded his remarks. Cancel, canceling, and canceled were not among his remarks, but they also were not reasonably a paraphrase of Biden’s commentary about the July 4 2021 goal. What Biden in actuality said was not that we might have to cancel the holiday, but rather that Americans must remain vigilant, and not erase the progress we’ve already achieved. Biden emphasized the availability of vaccines to all Americans aged 16 and over, encouraging young people to get vaccinated before the end of May 2021. At no point did he insinuate that he or anyone else planned to cancel Independence Day holiday if Americans refused to wear masks or receive a vaccine. Posted in Disinformation , Fact Checks Tagged 4th of july , hannity.com , joe biden , misleading , new york post , sean hannity , viral facebook posts (en)
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