‘Our Patience is Wearing Thin’: Biden Targets Unvaccinated in Speech Announcing Sweeping New Covid Plan

President Joe Biden unveiled a sweeping plan for getting the Covid-19 pandemic under control. Among the measures he announced during a speech on Thursday, the Department of Labor will require employers of 100 workers of more to require their employees be vaccinated or receive weekly testing for the virus. Additionally, he mandated that all federal employees will be required to be vaccinated, as well as the employees of contractors the government does business with.

Just over half of Americans have been vaccinated against Covid despite the fact the vaccines have been widely available for several months now. Hesitancy and hostility to the vaccine have been substantial obstacles to mitigating the pandemic in certain parts of the country. Some states are even seeing record numbers of hospitalizations and deaths due to the virus.

During the speech White House, Biden addressed unvaccinated Americans in his firmest terms yet. The president said “our patience is wearing thin”:

My message to unvaccinated Americans is this: What more is there to wait for? What more do you need to see? We’ve made vaccinations free, safe, and convenient. The vaccine is FDA approved. Over 200 million Americans have gotten at least one shot. We’ve been patient but our patience is wearing thin and your refusal has cost all of us. So, please, do the right thing. But just don’t take from me. Listen to the voices of unvaccinated Americans who are lying in hospital beds taking their final breath saying, ‘If only I had gotten vaccinated, if only. It’s a tragedy. Please don’t let it become yours.

Watch above via CNN.