ウィスパリング同時通訳研究会コミュのJoe Biden Participates in a CNN Town Hall in Milwaukee - February 16, 2021

Anderson Cooper: (00:02)
Welcome. We are live in the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This is a CNN Presidential Town Hall, the first with President Joe Biden. I’m Anderson Cooper. President Biden is just four weeks into his presidency and facing multiple crises. Nearly 500,000 of our fellow citizens, Americans have died from COVID-19. Millions out of work right now and a nation dangerously divided. Tonight we’re going to be answering questions from the American people. The president will be answering questions from the American people on his first official trip since taking office. Some of the questioners here voted for him, some did not. The president and I will not be wearing masks on this stage. He of course has been vaccinated. Over the past several weeks I have repeatedly tested negative for coronavirus as recently as yesterday and this morning as well. We will however be keeping our distance from one another and the audience is very limited, socially distanced and all wearing masks when they’re seated. With that, I want to welcome the 46th President of the United States, President Joe Biden.

Joe Biden: (00:57)Hi Anderson.
Anderson Cooper: (00:57)How are you sir?
Joe Biden: (00:59)Good to see you man. Hi folks, how are you? Good to be back, man.
Anderson Cooper: (01:10)It’s nice to see you, sir.
Joe Biden: (01:13)You know you enjoy being home with the baby more. [inaudible 00:01:16]
Anderson Cooper: (01:16)I do, yes. He’s nine and a half months, so I’m very happy.
Joe Biden: (01:20)I get it. No, no. Everybody knows I like kids better than people.
Anderson Cooper: (01:22)I saw a picture of you with your grandson recently.
Joe Biden: (01:24)That’s right.

Anderson Cooper: (01:24)
Yeah. So we got a lot of questions in the audience. We have about 50 or so people here. They are all socially distanced. We have some folks who voted for you, some folks who did not, and we’re going to get as many questions in as possible.
(01:36)
Before we get to that, I just want to start with a couple of just big picture questions about the pandemic and where we are right now.
Joe Biden: (01:41)Sure.

Anderson Cooper: (01:43)
New cases of COVID-19, hospitalizations have fallen by half in the last month, so have new cases. That’s the good news. There’s this potential threat, potential surge from the variants coming down the pike potentially. When is every American who wants it going to be able to get a vaccine?

Joe Biden: (02:01)
By the end of July this year. We have … We came into office, there was only 50 million doses that were available. We have now … By the end of July, we’ll have over 600 million doses, enough to vaccinate every single American.

Anderson Cooper: (02:23)
When you say by the end of July, do you mean that they will be available or that people will have been able to actually get them? Because Dr. Fauci –

Joe Biden: (02:34)They’ll be available.
Anderson Cooper: (02:34)They’ll be available.
Joe Biden: (02:35)They’ll be available.
Anderson Cooper: (02:35)Okay.

Joe Biden: (02:35)
Here look. What we did, we got into office and found out the supply, there was no backlog. There was nothing in the refrigerator figuratively and literally speaking and there were 10 million doses a day that were available. We’ve upped that, in the first weeks that we were in office to significantly more than that. We’ve moved out, went to the Pfizer and Moderna, and said, “Can you produce more vaccine and more rapidly?” They not only agreed to go from 200 to 400, then they have agreed to go to 600 million doses. We got them to move up the time because we used the National Defense Act to be able to help the manufacturing piece of it to get more equipment and so on.

Anderson Cooper: (03:22)
So if the end of April … Excuse me, end of July, they’re available to actually get them in the arms of people who want them. That will take, what? A couple more months?
Joe Biden: (03:31)Well no, a lot will be being vaccinated in the meantime.
Anderson Cooper: (03:35)Okay.

Joe Biden: (03:35)
In other words it’s not all of a sudden 600 million doses are going to appear, and what’s going to happen is it’s going to continue to increase as we move along and we’ll have reached 400 million by the end of May and 600 million by the end of July and the biggest thing though as you remember when you and I … I shouldn’t say it t hat way, as you remember, but when you and i talked last, we talked about … It’s one thing to have the vaccine which we didn’t have when we came into office, but a vaccinator … How do you get the vaccine into someone’s arm? So you need the paraphernalia, you need the needle, you need the mechanisms to be able to get it in, you have to have people who can inject it in people’s arms.

Anderson Cooper: (04:14)That’s been one of the problems is just getting enough people.

Joe Biden: (04:16)
Yes. Now we have made significant strides increasing the number of vaccinators. I issued an executive order allowing former retired docs and nurses to do it. We have over 1,000 military personnel. The CDC is … I mean excuse me, the … We have gotten the National Guard engaged. So we have significant number of vaccinators, people who would actually be there, plus we have opened up a considerable number of locations where you can get the vaccination.

Anderson Cooper: (04:50)
I want to introduce you to Kevin Michel. He’s an independent from Wauwatosa. He’s a mechanical engineer for a vehicle company. Kevin, welcome. What’s your question?

Joe Biden: (04:57)Hi. Welcome to Milwaukee.
Kevin Michel: (04:59)Good. My questions is regarding education.
Joe Biden: (05:02)Yes.

Kevin Michel: (05:03)
Considering that hybrid and virtual school instruction have been in place for nearly a year now, what is the plan and recommendation to get students back into the brick and mortar buildings? As a parent of four children, I find it imperative that they get back to school as safely as possible.

Joe Biden: (05:17)
My mother would say, “God bless you son. No purgatory for you.” Four kids home, I really mean it. By the way, the loss of being able to be in school is having significant impact on the children and parents as well. What we found out is there are certain things that make it rational and easy to go back to the brick and mortar building. One, first of all, making sure everybody is wearing protective gear. It’s available to students as well as to teachers, the janitors, the people who work in the cafeteria, the bus drivers. Secondly, organizing in smaller pods, which means that’s why we need more teachers. Instead of a classroom of 30 kids in it, you have three classes and that same of 10 kids each in those. I’m making the number up, less … It doesn’t have to be literally 10.

Joe Biden: (06:08)
In addition to that, we also have indicated that it is much better, it’s much easier to send kids K-8 back because they are less likely to communicate the disease to somebody else, but because kids in … Sophomores, juniors and seniors in high school, they socialize a lot more and they’re older and they transmit more than young kids do, it’s harder to get those schools open without having everything from the ventilation systems and having …(06:42)
For example, school bus drivers. We got to make sure that you don’t have 60 kids or however many, it would depend on the size of the school bus, sitting two abreast in every single seat, and so there’s a lot of things we can do short of … I think that we should be vaccinating teachers. We should move them up in the hierarchy as well.

Anderson Cooper: (07:05)
Let me ask you, your administration had set a goal to open the majority of schools in your first 100 days. You’re now saying that means those schools may only be open for at least one day a week.

Joe Biden: (07:17)
No, that’s not true. That’s what was reported, that’s not true. That was a mistake in the communication, but what I’m talking about is I said opening the majority of schools in K through eighth grade because they’re the easiest to open, the most needed to be opened in terms of the impact on children and families having to stay home.

Anderson Cooper: (07:39)So when do you think that would be K-8, at least five days a week if possible?
Joe Biden: (07:42)
I think we’ll be close to that at the end of the first 100 days. We’ve had a significant percentage of them being able to be opened. My guess is they’re going to probably be pushing to open all for … All summer, to continue like it’s a different semester –
Anderson Cooper: (07:59)Do you think that would be five days a week or just a couple?

Joe Biden: (08:01)
I think many of them five days a week. The goal will be five days a week. Now it’s going to be harder to open up the high schools for the reasons I said. Just like, if you notice, the contagion factor in colleges is much higher than it is in high schools or grade schools.

Anderson Cooper: (08:19)I want you to meet … This is Justin Belot, he’s a high school teacher from Milwaukee who is a Democrat. Justin, thanks for being with us. What’s your question?
Joe Biden: (08:28)What do you teach?
Justin Belot: (08:29)I teach English. High school English.
Joe Biden: (08:31)My wife teaches. God love you.

Justin Belot: (08:32)
Wonderful. Thank you Mr. President. So along the same lines of schools, so this great debate on when to transition to in-person learning. While there are numerous warnings not to be in large groups or to have dinner parties or small parties, why is it okay to put students and teachers in close proximity to each other for an entire day, day after day? With large class sizes and outdated ventilation systems, how and when do you propose this to occur? Finally, do you believe all staff should be vaccinated before doing so?

Joe Biden: (09:00)
Number one, nobody is suggesting, including the CDC in this recent report that you have large classes, congested classes. It’s smaller classes, more ventilation, making sure that everybody has masks and is socially distanced, meaning you have les … Fewer students in one room. Making sure that everyone from the sanitation workers who work in the lavatories, in the bathrooms and do all the maintenance, that they are in fact able to be protected as well. Making sure you’re in a situation where you don’t have the congregation of a lot of people, and as I said, including the school bus, including getting on a school bus. So it’s about needing to be able to socially distance, smaller classes, more protection, and I think that teachers and the folks who work in the school, the cafeteria workers and others, should be on the list of preferred to get a vaccination.

Anderson Cooper: (10:00)I want to introduce you to Kerri Engebrecht, an independent from Oak Creek. Kerri, welcome. Go ahead.
Kerri Engebrecht: (10:06)Thank you.
Joe Biden: (10:06)Kerri, how are you?

Kerri Engebrecht: (10:07)
Very good, thank you. Our 19-year-old son was diagnosed with pediatric COPD at the age of 14. We’re told he has the lungs of a 60 year old. He does all he can to protect himself. Last month he even removed himself from the campus of UW-Madison as he feels it’s safer and he has less exposure here at home. We’ve tried all we can to get him a vaccine. I hear of others who are less vulnerable getting it based on far less. Do you have a plan to vaccinate those who are most vulnerable sooner to give them a priority?

Joe Biden: (10:41)
Well the answer is yes there are but here’s how it works. The states make the decisions on who is … In what order. I can make recommendations, and for federal programs, I can do that as President of the United States, but I can’t tell the state you must move such and such a group of people up, but here’s what I’d like to do. If you’re willing, I’ll stay around after this is over, and maybe we can talk a few minutes and see if I can get you some help.

Anderson Cooper: (11:16)
Let me just ask you though, Johnson & Johnson could be authorized, a new vaccine from them could be authorized in a couple weeks. That would be a big deal.
Joe Biden: (11:25)Yes it would.

Anderson Cooper: (11:25)
Bringing a lot more vaccines on, millions of more doses to the supply. Once that happens, given the urgency of these variants and the potential threat from them, should states stop giving priority to certain groups and just open vaccine access for everyone?

Joe Biden: (11:39)
Well it depends on how much they have available. I think there still should be priority groups in case there are not enough for everyone, available to everybody. And look, we don’t know for certain. Let me tell you what my national COVID team has said, that the variants … By variants you mean the Brazilian strain, the South African strain –
Anderson Cooper: (12:01)London. Yeah.

Joe Biden: (12:01)
The British strain and London and et cetera. There’s thus far, thus far, there is no evidence that the existing vaccinations available from Moderna and Pfizer do not either make sure that they apply … They work as well against the strain in the United States, and there is no evidence that they’re not helpful. So if you can get a vaccination, get it whenever you can get it, regardless of the other strains that are out there. There are studies going on to determine it is not only more communicable but are there vaccine … Do the vaccines not provide helpful protection by getting the vaccine? There are some speculation, I got to be very careful here because millions of people are watching this. It may be that a certain vaccination for a certain strain may reduce from 95% to a lower percentage of certainty that it will keep you from getting –

Anderson Cooper: (13:08)It may not be as effective as –
Joe Biden: (13:10)It may not be as effective.
Anderson Cooper: (13:11)Against a variant, but it still would be effective.
Joe Biden: (13:13)Still be effective. So the clear notion is, if you’re eligible, if it’s available, get the vaccine. Get the vaccine.
Anderson Cooper: (13:24)
I want you to meet, this is Dessie Levy, a Democrat from Milwaukee. She’s a registered nurse, former academic dean. She’s also currently director of a faith-based nonprofit. Dessie, welcome.

Joe Biden: (13:34)
By the way, you’ve heard me say this before Becky. If there’s any angels in heaven, they’re all nurses, male and female. Doctors let you live, nurses make you want to live. I can tell you as a consumer of healthcare and my family. You’re wonderful. Thank you for what you do.

Dessie Levy: (13:49)
God bless you. Mr. President, hello. My name is Dr. Dessie Levy and my question to you is considering COVID-19 and its significant impact on black Americans, especially here in Milwaukee, and thus the exacerbation of our racial disparities in healthcare, we have seen less than three percent of blacks and less than five percent of Hispanics given the total number of vaccines that have been administered to this point. Is this a priority for the Biden administration and how will the disparities be addressed and that’s both locally and nationally.

Joe Biden: (14:32)
Well first of all it is a priority, number one. Number two, there’s two reasons for it being the way it is. Number one, there is some history of blacks being used as guinea pigs in other experiments, I need not tell you, doctor, over the last 50 to 75 to 100 years in America so there is a concern about getting the vaccine, whether it’s available or not, but the biggest part of it is access, physical access. That’s why last week I opened up … I met with the Black Caucus in the United States Congress and agreed that I would … All of the community health centers now which take care of the toughest of the toughest neighborhoods in terms of illness, they are going to get a million doses a week and how we’re going to move forward, because they’re in the neighborhood. Secondly, we have opened up and I’m making sure that there’s doses of vaccine for over 6,700 pharmacies because almost everyone lives within not always walking distance but within the distance of being able to go to the pharmacy like when you got your flu shot. That is also now being opened.
(15:51)
Thirdly, I also am providing for mobile vans, mobile units to go into neighborhoods that are hard to get to because people are on … For example, even though everyone is within basically five miles of a Walgreens let’s say, the fact is if you’re 70 years old, you don’t have a vehicle and you live in a tough neighborhood meaning it’s a high concentration of COVID, you’re not likely to be able to walk five miles to go get a vaccine. The other thing we found is, and I’m sorry to go on, but this is really important to me. The other portion is a lot of people don’t know how to register. Not everybody in the community, in the Hispanic and the African-American community, particularly in rural areas that are distant and/or inner city districts, know how to use … Know how to get online to determine how to get in line for that COVID vaccination at the Walgreens or at the particular store. So we’re also … I’ve committed to spend a billion dollars on public education to help people figure out how they can get in there. That’s why we’re also trying to set up mass vaccination centers like places in stadiums and the like.

Anderson Cooper: (17:15)
Are you concerned about the rollout of this online? Because it has been incredibly confusing for a lot of people, not just –
Joe Biden: (17:23)Sure.
Anderson Cooper: (17:24)Older people, it’s young people just trying to find a place to get a vaccine.

Joe Biden: (17:28)
Yes, and I have because look what we inherited. We inherited a circumstance here where … And now for the first … We did a lot in the first two weeks, a circumstances where number one, there weren’t many vaccinators. You didn’t know where you could go get a vaccine administered to you because there was no one to put it in your arm, number one. Number two, there was very little federal guidance as to say what to look for, how to find out where in fact you could go. You can go online and every single state now has a –(18:03)
… And go online, and every single state now has a slightly different mechanism by which they say who’s qualified, where you can get the vaccines and so on. So it’s all about trying to more rationalize in detail so ordinary people like me can understand, I mean that sincerely. I mean, my grandchildren can use that online make me look like I’m in the seventh century. But all kidding aside, it is a process and it’s going to take time. Think of what we didn’t do, and you and I talked about this during the campaign, we didn’t do from the time it hit the United States. You’re going to inject someone and your arm is going to go away, you’ll all be down by Easter. We wasted so much time, so much time.