Despite 70% Vaccination Failure in the US, Celebration Parties Continue... UK Fully Lifts Lockdown Restrictions

Independence Day Celebration Party and Fireworks Event
Concerns Raised Amid Delta Variant Spread
Biden: "Declaration of Virus Independence Imminent"
UK Announces Full Lifting of COVID-19 Restrictions

U.S. President Joe Biden is taking a selfie with attendees at the Independence Day party held at the White House.
[Photo by Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min, Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] U.S. President Joe Biden failed to achieve the goal of vaccinating at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to 70% of the adult population by July 4, Independence Day.

Despite concerns over the spread of the Delta variant, President Biden held a large-scale party and emphasized vaccination, saying that the conquest of COVID-19 is near.

In his Independence Day party speech held at the White House on the 4th (local time) attended by about 1,000 people, President Biden said, "The time to declare independence from the COVID-19 virus is near. The virus cannot paralyze our country."

He added, "COVID-19 has not yet been conquered. We must get vaccinated quickly," and offered condolences for the 603,018 people who died from COVID-19.

CNN reported, using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that as of the 3rd, 67.0% of Americans aged 18 and older had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

This is 3.0 percentage points short of the target set by President Biden. Nevertheless, in polls released by Fox News and ABC, more than 60% of Americans supported President Biden's response to COVID-19.

However, there are concerns that the White House event held amid the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant could backfire on President Biden in the future. According to the CDC, the average daily number of new infections from June 23 to 29 was 12,609, a 10% increase from the previous week.

On this day, large-scale Independence Day fireworks events were held across the U.S., including in New York and Washington DC. The fireworks, held with most quarantine measures lifted, could become an opportunity for the Delta variant to spread.

The United Kingdom has decided to lift all COVID-19 related restrictions, including the mandatory wearing of masks, on the 19th. Despite a sharp increase in confirmed cases due to the spread of the Delta variant, the UK plans to end phased lockdown measures as scheduled.

Since March, the UK has been easing lockdown measures in four stages. As a result, mask-wearing in all spaces will be left to individual choice, and the guideline to maintain a distance of more than 1 meter will be abolished. There will also be no need to scan QR codes when entering pubs, restaurants, hair salons, gyms, museums, and other venues.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.