During his inauguration ceremony on January 20, 2021, Joe Biden observed a minute of silence in memory of the victims of Covid-19. They were 424,000 that day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) count. A year later, a second prayer would be possible: the death toll has doubled – the 850,000 deaths have been exceeded – while the number of Americans affected by the virus has increased from 24.5 million to 65.2 million .
With 257 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, against 191 in France, the balance sheet of the United States is very poor. Only 49% of Americans believe that their president is managing the health crisis well, compared to 67% in March, according to a survey for YouGov. “I’m not going to give up and accept things as they are now. Some are calling what’s happening the “new normal.” I call it unfinished business, launched Joe Biden on Wednesday January 19, during a press conference. We’re not there yet, but we’ll get there. »
The new president had focused his campaign on the Covid-19, attacking the management of the pandemic by his opponent Donald Trump. The latter had certainly caused an outcry by suggesting that patients treat themselves with bleach, but he had bequeathed an armed country on the vaccine front, with two authorized products, those of Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech. Donald Trump had pushed the fires on the subject from March 2, 2020, during a summit at the White House with the bosses of the pharmaceutical groups. The success of the two vaccines, announced the day after the presidential election, was to make the epidemic an old memory, despite the deadly wave of January 2021.
Bad numbers
This is what happened during the first months of 2021, with the White House amplifying the logistical and financial efforts to vaccinate Americans. Thus, on July 4, during the national holiday, Joe Biden declares victory: “Today we are closer than ever to declaring our independence from a deadly virus. » Alas, not everything goes as planned. The Delta variant revives the epidemic during the summer, hampering the recovery of the economy. Then it was the turn of the Omicron variant to burst in, contaminating the country at record speed before Christmas.
Today, 63% of Americans (209 million) have received their initial two doses of vaccine and, according to the CDC, 79 million have received a booster dose, or 24% of the population. Poor figures compared to France, where these shares amount to 77% and 42% respectively – rates obtained in particular thanks to the centralized introduction of the health pass.
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