Biden urges unvaccinated Americans to receive jabs

Washington, Aug 24 : US President Joe Biden has urged the unvaccinated individuals to receive their shots amid the rapid spread of highly contagious Covid-19 Delta variant.

Biden made the remarks on Monday after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave its full approval to the Pfizer vaccine earlier in the day, Xinhua news agency reported.

"So let me say this loudly and clearly: If you're one of the millions of Americans who said that they will not get the shot until it has full and final approval of the FDA, it has now happened," said Biden.

"The moment you've been waiting for is here," he said. "It's time for you to go get your vaccination and get it today. Today."

The president also encouraged businesses to require vaccinations among employees.

"Today I'm calling on more companies in the private sector to step up with vaccine requirements that will reach millions more people," Biden said on Monday.

Asked if the FDA's approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine will lead to any additional vaccine mandates from the Biden administration, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during the press briefing on Monday, "I expect there will be more, sure, as we've said all along."

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said during a Pentagon briefing on Monday the Department of Defense would move forward with requiring all US military service members to be vaccinated now that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has full FDA approval.

In recent weeks, the Biden administration has rolled out vaccine requirements among federal workers, members of the armed forces, federal medical facilities and nursing home workers.

As of Sunday, 51.5 per cent of the total US population were fully vaccinated, showed CDC data.