look at the year that has passed and the year that is ahead. through the prism of one state s experiences. while there is still much pain here, and a long way to go. there is some good news. some light, at the end of the tunnel. one recent analysis ranking rhode island number ten in terms of vaccine distribution. and the state just increased the eligibility to those 60 and over, as well as people as young as 16, with an underlying condition. i saw that hope, myself, this weekend, as i visited a mass-vaccination site at the dunkin doughnut center, not far from where i am standing right now. where vulnerable residents were getting their first and second covid shot. take a listen. what was it like, after you got your first shot in your arm? what was that kind of emotion for you? oh, it was it was wonderful. but i tell you, today, it s really touching me today that we re so fortunate to have this vaccine after-only a year. it s a sense of freedom like, okay, now, i can i
that everyone in this country age 18 and above will be able to receive the coronavirus vaccine by may 1st. may 1st. that s it. you will have your appointment by may 1st if not already have the vaccine in your arm. president bide ensaid this goal is to allow people to be able to his goal is to allow people to be able to gather in small groups on july 4th to celebrate our independence and to celebrate our independence from the coronavirus. today was the triumphant high point of the biden presidency so far with house speaker nancy pelosi delivering the biden covid relief bill to the white house for the president s signature one day earlier than expected. signing the bill into law today means relief checks of $1,400 could be flowing into people s accounts as early as this weekend. people can expect to start seeing direct deposits hit their bank accounts as early as this weekend. president biden stepped up to the microphone in the east room of the white house tonight to tell
there s a press conference planned by the floyd family a few hours from now. more on all of that straight ahead this hour. it s a big day for white house. roughly 15 minutes from now the white house covid-19 response team will be holding its briefing. a few hours after that, president biden and democratic congressional leaders will talk about the american rescue plan. big news for all of us. president biden just late out a new vaccination time line. you may want to turn up the volume. you do not want to forget these days. may 1st, that s when president biden says he will direct all states to make every adult eligible for a vaccine by that day. it doesn t mean doses will be available by then. the white house hopes for that to happen by the end of may. let s not forget, it s going to take time for people to actually get that shot or get those shots. if all goes according to plan, we could have a sense of normalcy by july 4th, according to president biden. the president hopes
more than 529,000 americans have died, the highest death toll of any nation in the world and nearly 2,000 people in the united states are still dying each day. this isn t over. and the numbers don t tell the whole story. it is the lives interrupted, the families suddenly broken, so many people left to die and grief alone that really hit that does hit the hardest and cannot be forgotten. mothers and fathers and brothers, sisters and friends and coworkers, so many taken too soon. i know i m going to remember michelle, a nurse whose brother-in-law, sister-in-law and mother in law were all admitted to her hospital and she was the only person able to hold her mother-in-law edna s hand as she passed. unlike in a normal circumstance where you would be together gathering as a family, we ve all had to work through this separately. and there is also danielle lopez whose uncle was killed by the virus last summer. it just i m sorry, i m trying to even process that all that th
to socially distance but recognize that they need to point forward with the vaccines coming online, numbers dropping and less deaths. the president will talk about that. emphasis most certainly on what he s about to sign in a few minutes. keep an eye on, also, the administration launching into a blitz to sell and message this proposal. importance in their minds what this $1.9 trillion brings to the table. the president they announced yesterday will make a trip to pennsylvania tuesday and next week the president and vice president will be heading to georgia as part of the effort to talk about this profeposal. why does it matter? georgia and the two democrat whose hailed from that state because of runoffs, $ 1.9 trillion wouldn t have been possible. because of this, the president is able to sign his cornerstone proposal. phil mattingly, thank you. covering the white house for us. it is remarkable for president biden to be signing such a sweeping piece of legislation just seve