Pool Reports of May 4, 2021

WH pool report 1 - briefing delayed

Even before heading to the White House this morning for the noon call time, there is one change in the schedule: The press briefing will now be held at 12:45 p.m.

The only other public event so far is President Biden's remarks on COVID-19 and vaccinations, scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

WH Pool Report 2 -- at the White House

Greetings from the White House on Star Wars Day. (I actually like Star Trek a lot better.) All vaccinated (in March) and tested (this morning).

As I posted earlier, the press briefing has been delayed to 12:45 and the only other event so far is President Biden's address at 2:30. Both events will be livestreamed.

WH pool report 3- two minute warning

[APP Note: No additional text was included in this report.]

WH pool report 4 - briefing begins

[APP Note: No additional text was included in this report.]

WH pool report 5 - briefing ends

Next up is the president's speech.

WH pool report 6 - in place for Biden address

I have never seen a room look so empty in advance of the president's appearance.

WH pool report 7 - two minute warning

[APP Note: No additional text was included in this report.]

WH pool report 8 - speech begins

President Biden by himself comes into the state dining room. He's standing behind a podium with no one around him.

WH pool report 9 - speech ends

[APP Note: No additional text was included in this report.]

WH pool report 10 - Biden takes questions

[APP Note: No additional text was included in this report.]

WH pool report 11 - Biden on vaccines

Says he hopes vaccinated people will convince others to get it, but "we know we'll get to a place where the doubting exists."

Will move as quickly as we can to get Moderna and Pfizer vaccines around the world.

Said he hoped to meet with Putin on his overseas trip.

WH pool report 12 - Biden leaves, flagging he said he hoped to meet Putin

"hope and expectation" to meet him

WH pool report 13 -- lid

Travel and photo lid has been called, but not for me. More Biden quotes on the way.

WH pool report 14 - fuller quotes

Please check against transcript. Recording wasn't the great. Will try to get a better recording from the broadcast pool, but for now, this will do.

Meet Putin during European trip? "That is my hope and expectation."

Biden said he was helping India and Brazil, and also sending vaccines to Canada and Mexico.

As for others: "I'm not prepared to announce who else is getting the vaccines. But we are going to provide" them.

Is it going to be harder in the next 100 days? "In one sense, it's easier. It's convincing people rather than guaranteeing we have supply. That was very hard. It's really hard to get from that old expression zero to 60 miles an hour. It's very hard to get from a very low count to 600 million vaccines."

There will be vaccine skeptics, he said.

"We're going to keep at it. At the end of the day, most people will be convinced by the fact that their failure to get a vaccine may cause other people to be sick and die."

"There is more we can do. One of the things we can do is we can continue to provide more of the vaccine and work harder to get it available to more people."

Will try to bring in effective spokespeople for communities to get them to be vaccinated. "I think we're going to make real progress here."

Spoken to trade representative about issuing waivers on vaccine patents? "We're going to decide that."

Will continue to order more Moderna and Pfizer vaccines "as long as there's a problem anywhere in the world."

Expects to vaccinate people long after July 4. "We're going to be vaccinating people into next fall."

WH pool report 15 - better quotes

As always, check against transcript.

Spoke to India PM Modi. "What he needs most is the material and the parts to be able to have his machines make the vaccine." "We're doing a lot."

Sent Astra Zeneca vaccine to Canada and Mexico.

"There are other countries that we're talking to now....I'm not prepared to announce who else we'll be giving the vaccine to but we are going to, by the 4th of July, have sent around 10 percent of what we have to other nations."

Difference between first 100 days and next 100 days. "In one sense, it's easier in that it's up to convincing the American people rather than guaranteeing them we'd have a supply for them. That was really hard. It was really hard to get from, as that old expression, zero to 60 miles an hour, to get from a very low count to 600 million vaccines and then set up all the logistics. What's going to happen, that's my prayer, that more and more people who get vaccinated are going to be listening to people who they love and who are around and they're going to say, 'Why don't you just go ahead and do it?'"

"We still had a good dose of vaccine being administered the last two weeks and it's still moving. But we know were going to get to a place where the doubters exist" or are too lazy to be vaccinated.

"We're going to keep at it. And I think at the end of the day, most people will be convinced by the fact that their failure to get the vaccine may cause other people to get sick and maybe die."

"I'm one of these guys who thinks positively, not negatively. There's more than we can do. One of the things we can do is we can continue to produce more of the vaccine, work harder to get it available to more people and export a lot of that."

Bring in effective spokespeople to represent communities that people listen to. "It's going to get more granular rather than large."

"I think we're going to make real progress here. We'll see. But we're going to keep at it."

Spoke to trade representative about issuing vaccine patent waivers? "We're going to decide that as we go along. I haven't made any decision."

"We're going to, as long as there's a problem anywhere in the world, even if we solve it here, we're going to move as quickly as we can to get as many does of Moderna and Pfizer as possibly can be produced and export those around the world."

Meet Putin during European trip? "That is my hope and expectation. We're working on it."

70 percent vaccinated? "I'd like to get it 100 percent but I think realistically we can get to that place between now and July 4. By the way, it's not like July 4 the door's closed. I picked July 4 to try to get to a place where we get back closer to normal. We're going to be vaccinating people into next fall."

Signing off for the day. May the 4th be with you.