Fox News’ Peter Doocy is questioning White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki about President Joe Biden’s belief that COVID-19 is the “pandemic of the unvaccinated.”
During a White House press briefing Monday, Doocy explained, “I understand that the science says that the vaccines prevent death, but I’m triple vaxxed, still got Covid, you’re triple vaxxed, still got Covid.”
He asked, “Why is the president still referring to this as a pandemic of the unvaccinated?”
Psaki replied, “I had been triple vaxxed. I had minor symptoms. There is a huge difference between that and being unvaccinated. You are 17 times more likely to go to the hospital if you’re unvaccinated, 20 times more likely to die.”
Watch part of the press briefing below:
Fox News’ Doocy: “I’m triple-vaxed … You’re triple-vaxed, still got COVID. Why is the president still referring to this as a pandemic of the unvaccinated?”
— The Recount (@therecount) January 10, 2022
WH Press Sec. Psaki: “You are 17x more likely to go to the hospital if you’re unvaccinated, 20x more likely to die.” pic.twitter.com/hPcxWGCdfX
Additionally, Doocy asked Psaki why the administration was unprepared for testing after the holidays.
Psaki explained, “There has been a massive surge in cases … and there’s been an unprecedented demand for tests.”
She added, “So, what we have done over the course of the last few weeks, even before that, is the president quadrupled our testing capacity since the summer. We opened 20,000 sites across the country, and we’ve also opened additional federal sites, including one in D.C. only recently.”
According to Psaki, the administration is in the process of sending 50 million tests out to community health centers and rural health centers.
“And now we are in the process of finalizing contracts for 500 million tests,” Psaki said.
DOOCY: "Why is that you guys were so unprepared for the need for testing after the holidays?"
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) January 10, 2022
PSAKI: "There has been a massive surge in cases … and there's been an unprecedented demand for tests." pic.twitter.com/Vrn9a0Eyay
As CNN notes, Psaki recently dismissed the question of whether tests should be free and widely available.
She asked, “Should we just send one to every American?”
In the weeks following her comments, Psaki expressed some regret about them.
“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t leave this podium and wish I would have said something with greater context or a more precision or additional information,” she said.
The president acknowledged the administration may not have taken enough steps to meet the demand for testing.
“It’s not enough. It’s clearly not enough. If we’d have known, we’d have gone harder, quicker if we could have,” he said.
