PRESIDENT Biden is hosting a July 4 celebration at the White House despite the growing number of Delta strain Covid cases and missing the vaccination goal.
Biden returned from a trip to Michigan and his family home in Delaware today to the White House to host 1,000 people for a firework display and burgers.
The event will be the President’s first big celebration after the pandemic forced him to have a toned-down inauguration.
Five months into his tenure, President Biden will host military families and essential workers on the South Lawn.
But the celebration comes as federal officials are warning about the number of Delta variant cases.
Officials also want to double down on the country’s commitment to getting the rest of the population vaccinated.
The US still remains millions of shots away from meeting Biden’s goal of 70% of American adults receiving at least one dose by July 4.
The milestone was conceded late last month by White House officials who said they were likely to miss it by a number of weeks.
Today, the Centers for Disease Control said that over 182 million Americans, or about 67.1% of the adult population, have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Just over 157 million Americans have received both vaccines which is 58.2% of the population.
The US is administering less than 300,000 first doses per day which is significantly lower than the goal Biden set in May.
President Biden announced on May 4 that the country would need to average more than 820,000 first doses a day to reach the 70% target by July 4.
Meanwhile millions of Americans traveled for July 4 celebrations despite the recent rise in cases of the Delta variant.
An estimated 44million people were expected to hit the roads this weekend while air travel has exceeded pre-pandemic levels for the first time.
Around 2.15million people passed through US airport screening checkpoints Thursday, the Transportation Security Administration has said, making it the second-highest figure on record since the coronavirus pandemic.
Just four days earlier a figure of 2.17million was recorded.
This compares with just 58,330 people recorded on the same day in 2019
The figures come though as the Delta variant sweeps across the US triggering a rise in cases.
The American Automobile Association forecast 3.5million airline passengers will be on the move between July 1 and July 5.
It also expects 43.6million people to take to their cars over the same period, a figure it believes to be the highest ever for Independence Day.
