Biden back, says ‘get vaxxed’
Work-from-isolation is over for the American leader
WASHINGTON (AFP) — United States (US) President Joe Biden ended his Covid isolation Wednesday, telling cheering aides that his quick recovery from infection should inspire Americans to take advantage of free vaccines and treatments.
‘The same treatment I got is available to you.’
“I thought I heard a rumbling in my staff saying, ‘He’s back,’” Biden joked to a crowd of staff in the Rose Garden after he emerged from the White House residence for the first time since ending a five-day isolation period. “Thanks for sticking around.”
Wearing his beloved Aviator sunglasses under a scorching sun, the 79-year-old Democrat noted the difference when Republican Donald Trump got Covid and had to be airlifted to hospital at the height of the pandemic in October 2020, before vaccines were available.
“When my predecessor got Covid, he had to get helicoptered to Walter Reed Medical Center. He was severely ill. Thankfully, he recovered. When I got Covid, I worked from upstairs of the White House, in the offices upstairs, for the five-day period,” Biden said.
Biden said that being fully vaccinated, taking preventative tests, then using the Paxlovid therapeutic to speed up recovery from infection, prevents deaths and is all available at no cost.
“You don’t need to be president to get these tools,” he said, urging Americans to visit the covid.gov website for information. “The same treatment I got is available to you.”
“Let’s keep emerging from one of the darkest moments in our history,” Biden said, before finishing his nine-minute address with an enthusiastic: “And now I get to go back to the Oval Office.”