President Joe Biden is sitting down for an interview with MSNBC as his administration attempts to combat COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among conservatives.
Biden will speak with host Lawrence O’Donnell at the White House for an interview that will air Wednesday at 10 p.m., the network announced Monday. The sit-down will open a town hall hosted by Northern Virginia Community College that will feature Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s divisive top infectious disease expert, as well as Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy.
Viral immunologist Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, who helped develop the Moderna vaccine, will also participate in the program.
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The administration’s decision to coordinate with MSNBC is at odds with data suggesting conservatives are more reticent to roll up their sleeves for a COVID-19 shot. A CNN poll published last month found almost half of its respondents who identified as Republican would not sign up for a jab (44%), compared to 28% of independents and 8% of Democrats.
About 114 million people in the United States are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, roughly 35% of the country’s population. That figure is still short of the 70% to 85% benchmark public health experts suspect is required to prevent the spread of the respiratory illness through herd immunity.
Becerra’s appearance also marks a more public-facing role for the HHS secretary. The former California attorney general has not granted many interviews nor been brought into the White House press briefing room since he was confirmed by the Senate in March in a 50-49 vote as his department grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic and an uptick in migrant children crossing the southern border.
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Biden announced his new goal last week of administering at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to 70% of the country’s adults by July 4, so that 160 million people older than 16 will have received two jabs within the next two months. To reach that target, the Biden administration will have to administer 100 million doses during the next 60 days, a slower pace than the more than 220 million shots given during the first 100 days of his presidency.
