US: Joe Biden deploys more military medical personnel in six states 'hard hit' by COVID-19

United States President Joe Biden on Thursday, 13 January, announced the deployment of six additional teams of military medical personnel in Michigan, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Rhode Island. Biden said that the deployments which total more than 120 military medical personnel will be sent to these six states that are "hard hit" by COVID-19. The US President made the announcement in his remarks during the virtual meeting on military deployments supporting hospitals amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

He stated that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is causing millions of COVID-19 cases and an increase in hospitalisations. Biden reiterated his call for Americans to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and called it a “pandemic of unvaccinated.” He highlighted that vaccinated Americans if they test positive for COVID-19 overwhelmingly either have no or mild symptoms. In contrast, Biden said unvaccinated Americans are 17 times more likely to be hospitalized after getting infected with coronavirus "crowding the hospitals, leaving little room for anyone else” who might have other health issues or have been admitted to hospital after an accident. 

Biden urges Americans to get vaccinated 

Furthermore, Joe Biden stated that the unvaccinated people are dying due to COVID-19. Biden said that the people who have been vaccinated need to get a booster dose of vaccine and those who are unvaccinated need to receive a vaccine for protection against the virus. The US President called on the people to wear face masks to curb the spread of COVID-19. He insisted that Americans must receive the vaccine for the sake of children and the nation.  

"Vaccines are safe, they’re free, and they’re widely available. So, do it today, please, for your sake, the sake of your kids, and the sake of the country," Biden said in his remarks. 

In his speech, Biden said that since Thanksgiving, more than 800 military and other federal emergency personnel have been deployed in 24 states, which includes over 350 military doctors, nurses, medics, helping staff. He further said that over 14000 National Security Guards have been activated in 49 states. Biden noted that the administration has procured 500 million COVID-19 tests and has directed his team to procure additional 500 million tests for free distribution across the country. 

COVID-19 situation in the US

According to the US CDC, as of 13 January, 855,805 new COVID-19 cases have been reported taking the overall tally of cases to 63,397,935. 2,006 more people died due to COVID-19 taking the total number of fatalities to 842,873. According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC), 208.6 million people have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and 78.1 million people have received booster dose of vaccine in the United States.

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