Durbin: We Are More Prepared To Fight COVID-19 Variants Because Senate Democrats Passed The American Rescue Plan
WASHINGTON – In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today outlined the historic steps Senate Democrats have already taken to improve our ability to combat the new COVID-19 Omicron variant—including passing the American Rescue Plan, which funded the production and distribution of life-saving vaccines and enhanced detection and tracking of new variants like Omicron.
“Today we received preliminary findings that patients are better protected against Omicron with a third Pfizer dose,” Durbin said. “While it's still too soon to draw any definitive conclusions… what's clear is that the historic investments we've made—the Senate, President Biden—these investments in public health are paying off.”
Durbin went on to outline what can be done now to help stop the spread of COVID-19: get vaccinated, support the global vaccine campaign to combat the virus worldwide, and pass the Build Back Better Act to build on the American Rescue Plan’s investments in public health.
Durbin continued, “At the start of this pandemic, America's public health system had been ignored and underfunded for years. That's the reason why we proposed nearly $10 billion in the Build Back Better plan, which we're currently working on, to improve laboratory capacity, disease detection, the workforce, and public health preparedness. This funding will fortify our public health system at a time when it is absolutely necessary.”
Video of Durbin’s floor speech is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s floor speech is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s floor speech is available here for TV Stations.
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