White House Expands Vaccination Push, Announces Free Rides, Additional Funding
- May 14, 2021
The administration this week unveiled a series of new measures it hopes will help ramp up the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations nationwide, which has dropped off in recent weeks.
President Biden has set a goal for 70% of U.S. adults to have at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by July 4. As part of that effort, Biden told the nation’s governors during a May 11 virtual meeting that ride-sharing companies Lyft and Uber will provide free rides to anyone going to a vaccination site from May 24 through July 4.
The administration also said that federal retail pharmacy partners will team up with some of the nation’s largest community colleges to host on-campus vaccinations sites for students, staff, and local communities throughout May and June, according to a White House fact sheet.
In addition, the White House on May 13 announced the release of $7.4 billion in funding from the American Rescue Plan to support states in hiring more public health workers to supplement their COVID-19 efforts.
Of the additional funding, $3 billion will be focused on preparing states and localities for future pandemics and to build a public health workforce for the future, the administration said.