It is done.

US President Joe Biden on Thursday March 11 signed his economic stimulus plan, a campaign pledge in the amount of 1.9 trillion dollars, the day after its approval by Congress.

A few hours later, he is due to deliver a long-awaited speech on the Covid-19 pandemic, whose vaccination campaign continues to accelerate.

On the fiftieth day of his mandate, he will make his first solemn address in "prime time" at 8 pm Washington time (1 am GMT, Friday March 12), from the prestigious "East Room" of the White House.

"I'm going to talk about all the events of the past year, but - and this is the most important - I will also talk about what will come after," he explained on Wednesday (March 10th).

"There are real reasons to hope, I promise you," he hammered.

"We see the light at the end of the tunnel."

Despite opposition from the Republicans, who denounce extravagant and poorly targeted spending, the Democrats, a majority in the House of Representatives, on Wednesday adopted the $ 1.9 trillion plan, a dizzying amount equivalent to Italy's GDP .

Praising "a historic victory for the Americans", Joe Biden signed this text the next day, from the Oval Office, and planned to increase the number of trips to defend it.

He is due to travel to Pennsylvania on Tuesday, March 16, then to Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday.

Nearly 530,000 dead

His speech to the Nation comes one year to the day after the decision of the World Health Organization (WHO) to qualify the Covid-19 epidemic as a pandemic.

The latter has since claimed nearly 530,000 lives in the United States, and the world's largest economy contracted 3.5% last year, its worst recession since World War II.

"Exactly a year ago, I said we were going through a very difficult time. But I could never have imagined that this country has more than half a million dead [from the pandemic]" , underlined on ABC the immunologist Anthony Fauci, adviser of Donald Trump, then of Joe Biden.

Thanks to the green light from Congress, millions of Americans will receive direct aid checks (of $ 1,400) for a total amount of some $ 400 billion.

The plan also extends exceptional unemployment benefits until September, which were due to expire on March 14.

The law also devotes 126 billion dollars to schools, from kindergarten to high school, to support their reopening despite the pandemic, as well as 350 billion in favor of states and local communities.

A video of four former presidents

In support of a vaccination campaign that is in full swing, the White House has announced that it wants to purchase 100 million additional doses from Johnson & Johnson, which would double the number of doses ordered by the United States at this time. pharmaceutical company.

The United States has already placed orders to receive by the end of May enough doses to immunize all American adults, thanks to two other vaccines being authorized in the country, that of the Pfizer-BioNTech alliance, and that of Moderna, which the US government has ordered 300 million doses each.

But the tenant of the White House insisted on the need to prepare for possible setbacks.

“We need maximum flexibility. […] A lot of things can happen, we have to be ready,” he said.

"If we have a surplus, we will share it with the rest of the world," he said again.

In a video titled "It depends on you," Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama called on all Americans on Thursday morning to get vaccinated.

Supporting personal anecdotes (George W. Bush dreams of finding a "full stadium" to encourage the Texas Rangers), the four former presidents encourage their compatriots to overcome any reluctance.

A major absentee in this initiative which brings together all the ex-presidents still alive: Donald Trump.

From his club in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, he tried to make himself heard, in a very different register.

"I hope all Americans will remember, when they receive the Covid-19 vaccine, that if I hadn't been president, you wouldn't have received this wonderful 'injection' for five years at the earliest. "he wrote in a brief statement.

"I hope that everyone will remember it!", Repeated the one who, despite his defeat at the end of his first term, did not rule out running again in 2024.

With AFP

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