1. The Continuing Effort to Combat Vaccine Misinformation on Social Media
Press Secretary Jen Psaki repeatedly was asked what the US and Biden’s administration is doing to combat misinformation about the Covid-19 vaccine being spread on social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter.
Psaki stated “I would just go back to the point that our fight is not with one social media platform, it is with the virus, and we have a role, everybody has a role, in combating misinformation, in terms of monitoring whether there have been steps that have been taken…”
She also said the administration has been in touch with the leaders of these social media platforms, such as Mark Zuckerberg, since the beginning of the pandemic in hopes to minimize the spread of vaccine disinformation and lies being spread regarding the health and safety issues of the vaccine.
While Facebook attempted to satisfy the administration by removing 10 million pieces of Covid misinformation, Psaki and the White House still believe that this is not enough.
The lies being spread are one of the main causes of continuing Covid cases in the US. Psaki also mentioned that “20% of the public thinks that microchips are embedded in vaccines.” The goal of the administration is to refute these lies and achieve herd immunity by vaccinating as many Americans as possible.
2. The White House Believes Inflation Will Soon Decline
When asked if the White House is “humble” about what they understand and do not understand regarding post-pandemic inflation in the US, Psaki responded with statistics and reasons why prices have gone up significantly over the past weeks.
She said, “We take inflation very seriously, it is under the purview of the Federal Reserve…their projection continues to be that, well there’s a projected increase in inflation this year, it’s expected to come back down to about 2.2 next year, they have not changed that.”
She continues to say, “When the economy’s turning back on from a global pandemic there isn’t a lot of historic precedent for that. And certainly, we’re seeing prices go back to pre-pandemic levels, in some cases we’re also seeing a range of factors [which contribute to] price increases, but we take this incredibly seriously and respect the role of the Federal Reserve.”
3. The US Donated Over A Million Vaccines to Other Countries
Psaki started the press briefing off with one item on her list, which consisted of the US contributing in the worldwide fight against Covid-19.
“The United States continues its tremendous efforts to donate Covid-19 vaccines, from the US Global Supply. Today we can announce that we have over a million Johnson and Johnson vaccines headed to Gambia, Senegal, Zambia, and Asia.
We’re also pleased to announce 3 million vaccines going to Guatemala tomorrow, continuing our prioritization of Latin American countries, as these shipments demonstrate the United States is fulfilling our promise to be an arsenal of vaccines for the world, and we’re proud to be donating these doses to save lives and help those in need” she said.