Pool Reports of July 6, 2021

In-town pool report #1 - preview of today's remarks

Good morning --

I'll be your in-town pooler today. The pool isn't actually called until noon, but the White House has already circulated this preview of the president's remarks on the state of the vaccination campaign. The remarks are scheduled for 2:45 p.m.

On background from a WH official:

• After the President is briefed by his COVID-19 response team, he will speak to the American people about the strong progress that the country has made in recovery because of its robust vaccination campaign, as well as the importance of every eligible American getting vaccinated, especially as the Delta variant continues to grow among unvaccinated people across the country. By the end of the week, the U.S. will be nearing 160 million people fully vaccinated which is critically important as fully vaccinated people are protected against the Delta variant.
• He will also stress how the Administration will continue its efforts to work with governors, local leaders and across the public and private sector to get more Americans vaccinated by making vaccines available in more health care settings, and respond to hotspots. The President will outline five areas his team is focusing on to get more Americans vaccinated:
  
  • Targeted, community by community, door to door outreach to get the remaining Americans vaccinated by ensuring they have the information they need on how both safe and accessible the vaccine is.
  • A renewed emphasis on getting the vaccines to more and more primary care doctors and other health care providers so more Americans can get a shot at their doctor's office.
  • Stepped up efforts to get vaccines to pediatricians and other providers who serve younger people – so that adolescents ages 12 to 18 can get vaccinated as they go for "back to school" checks ups or get ready for fall sports.
  • Continue expanding efforts to make the vaccine accessible for workers, including setting up vaccination clinics at work and PTO for employees.
  • Expanding our mobile clinic efforts.

In-town pool report #2 - Briefing now at 1 p.m.

The press briefing is now scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

In-town pool report #3 - two minute warning

We have a two minute warning for the press briefing.

In-town pool report #4 - briefing ends

The press briefing ended at 2:06 p.m.

The pool is currently scheduled to gather at 2:25 p.m. for the president's remarks on the vaccination program, which will be in the South Court Auditorium.

In-town pool report #5 - South Court

The pool is heading in to the South Court Auditorium ahead of the president's remarks. The event will stream in the usual places.

I'll try to give a two minute warning, but it can be challenging to get a signal in there.

In-town pool report #6

The White House passes along the following:

In attendance with the President at the COVID-19 briefing:

Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Chief Medical Advisor to the President
Vivek Murthy, Surgeon General of the United States
Natalie Quillian, Deputy COVID-19 Response Coordinator
Jeff Zients, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator
Ron Klain, Chief of Staff
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (virtual)
Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith Senior Advisor to the COVID-19 Response Team (virtual)
Dr. Bechara Choucair, White House Vaccinations Coordinator (virtual)
Carole Johnson, COVID-19 Testing Coordinator (virtual)

In-town pool report #7 - two minutes for POTUS

Two minute warning for the POTUS remarks on vaccines. The blue backdrop on the stage features the slogan "WE CAN DO THIS"

In-town pool report #8 - event concludes

POTUS concluded the event at 3:15 p.m. He took one question on ransomware and said he would have more to say "in the next several days."

The remarks were streaming, but a highlight was that he made another plea for people who have not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19 to get vaccinated. The president highlighted efforts to bring more vaccines to local communities, as well as the effort to have surge response teams for places where the Delta variant spreads among populations with low vaccination rates.

"Now we need to go community by community, neighborhood by neighborhood," the president said. He said vaccines would be increasingly available to family doctors and similar health care providers serving younger people, including at fall sports physicals.

In-town pool report #9 - lid

A lid was called as of 3:25 p.m.