Psaki on Door-to-Door Vaccination Effort: ‘This Is About Protecting People and Saving Lives’

On Wednesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki sounded off on the recently announced door-to-door vaccination effort to help combat the new Delta variant of COVID-19.

During an interview with CNN’s “New Day,” Psaki said that the Biden administration’s role as the federal government is to “protect the American people and save lives.”

“[W]hat we’re trying to do here as the federal government protect the American people and save lives, prevent people from getting COVID and the coronavirus, and what we’ve seen over the course of the last several months is that one of the biggest barriers is access and people knowing when they can get the vaccine, where they can get the vaccine, the efficacy and the safety of the vaccine,” Psaki advised. “It’s up to every individual to decide whether they’re going to get vaccinated, but especially as we’re seeing reports from the CDC about the rise of the Delta variant, one of the most transmissible variants we have seen there, this is about protecting people and saving lives. That’s a role we’re going to continue to play from the federal government.”

Host John Berman asked Psaki about encouraging businesses and local governments to mandate vaccinations.

Psaki stated, “We feel our role from here is to provide public health advice, make sure we have the supply available, work with local communities to make sure that people have access and are using best practices. That’s the role we can play.”

Berman pressed Psaki, telling her the administration could encourage the vaccination mandates.

“I don’t think that’s our role, John,” she replied.

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