President Joe Biden has told his countrymen that "America is coming back" as it is on a path to defeat the deadly coronavirus and revive the economy badly hit by the pandemic.
The US is the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of confirmed cases and deaths at 29,150,068 and 529,102, respectively, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Some 18 million Americans are still relying on unemployment insurance and some 400,000 small businesses have permanently closed their doors.
"America is coming back," Biden said in his maiden prime time address to the nation on Thursday on the 50th day of his presidency.
"The development, manufacture, distribution of vaccines in record time is a true miracle of science. It's one of the most extraordinary achievements any country has ever accomplished. We also just saw the Perseverance rover land on Mars, stunning images of our dreams that are now reality, another example of the extraordinary American ingenuity, commitment, and belief in science and one another," he said.
Reflecting on the last one year wherein the country lost more than 500,000 Americans, he said there is something else that the country lost.
"We lost faith in whether our government and our democracy can deliver on really hard things for the American people. But as I stand here tonight, we're proving once again something I've said time and time again to the--probably tired of hearing me say it. I say it to foreign leaders and domestic alike. It's never, ever a good bet to bet against the American people," Biden said.
"And today, I signed into law the American Rescue Plan, an historic piece of legislation that delivers immediate relief to millions of people. It includes USD 1,400 in direct rescue checks -- payments. That means a typical family of four earning about USD 110,000 will get checks for USD 5,600 deposited if they have direct deposit or in a check -- a Treasury check, he said.
This has been Biden's first and most pressing legislative priority since taking office on January 20.
"It extends unemployment benefits. It helps small businesses. It lowers health care premiums for many. It provides food and nutrition, keeps families in their homes. And it will cut child poverty in this country in half, according to the experts. And it funds all the steps to beat the virus and create millions of jobs," he said.
This will tackle the pandemic and get direct financial assistance and relief to Americans who need it the most.
In the coming weeks and months, Biden said he will be travelling, along with the first lady, the vice president, the second gentleman, and members of his Cabinet to speak directly to Americans, to tell them the truth about how the American Rescue Plan meets the moment.
"If it fails in any place, I will acknowledge that it failed, but it will not; about how after long, dark years, one whole year, there is hope and light of better days ahead," he said.
"If we all do our part, this country will be vaccinated soon, our economy will be on the mend, our kids will be back in school, and we'll have proven once again that this country can do anything, hard things, big things, important things," he said.
"Over a year ago, no one could have imagined what we were about to go through, but now we're coming through it. It is a shared experience that binds us together as a nation. We are bound together by the loss and the pain of the days that have gone by. We are also bound together by the hope and the possibilities in the days in front of us," he said.
Biden said his fervent prayer for the country is that, "after all we have been through, we'll come together as one people, one nation, one America."
"I believe we can and we will. We're seizing this moment. And history, I believe, will record: We faced and overcame one of the toughest and darkest periods in this nation's history -- darkest we've ever known," he said.
More than 95.7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered across the nation, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There are three COVID-19 vaccines that have received emergency use authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration from Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
