Remarks by President Biden During Tour of Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory

National Institutes of Health

Bethesda, Maryland

4:11 P.M. EST


 * Q Mr. President, how worried are you about the variants?
 * THE PRESIDENT: Well, we talked about the variants, and I’ll — rather than Joe Biden, the lawyer, explain the variants — I think I understand it — but I think it’s important that, Doctor, you talk about the variants and what we’re anticipating and what we think the situation is going to be.
 * DR. FAUCI: The 117 — that’s the UK variant that we feel the modelers are going to tell us is going to be dominant by the end of March — the vaccines that we have now look pretty good against being able to prevent infection and certain disease.


 * Q Are you upset with the state of the rollout before you got here, Mr. President?
 * THE PRESIDENT: No, I’m not.  I think — look, these folks have been absolutely amazing.  What I was upset with is not having all the facts that were available to the last outfit, that we did not know.
 * MR. ZIENTS: Community health centers.
 * THE PRESIDENT: — community health centers that are federally run — we are getting them — what day are we getting —
 * MR. ZIENTS: Starting next week.
 * THE PRESIDENT: Starting next week, they’ll get —
 * MR. ZIENTS: And pharmacies start today.
 * THE PRESIDENT: And the pharmacies start today.  We thought, by listening — at least my team did — between the time we were elected and the time somebody recognized we were elected, that we thought that it was well underway; that the drugstores were beginning — you know, all the places — the Walmarts of the world — were ready.  But it turned out they weren’t.  And so we — it’s been a hell of a learning process.

4:15 P.M. EST