#Joe Biden to deliver speech for COVID-19 lockdown anniversary

President Biden is preparing to deliver what the White House bills as his first “primetime” speech Thursday to mark the one-year anniversary of widespread COVID-19 lockdowns.

The speech will follow familiar Biden pandemic themes, urging sacrifice before an eventual return to normal, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday at her daily press briefing.

“The president will deliver his first primetime address to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 shutdown on Thursday. He will discuss the many sacrifices the American people have made over the last year and the grave loss communities and families across the country have suffered,” Psaki said.

“The president will look forward to highlighting the role of Americans — that Americans will play in beating the virus and moving the country toward getting back to normal.”

US health authorities have approved three COVID-19 vaccines and some states are relaxing business occupancy limits and mask mandates — drawing a rebuke from Biden, who said that doing so is the product of “Neanderthal thinking.”

Biden recently said there will be enough vaccine doses for all American adults by May.

Other Biden events have been billed as “primetime” remarks, including an early-evening speech last month to promote his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus bill. The president also delivered an evening speech to mark 500,000 US deaths from the virus.

The term “primetime” generally means a televised event between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.

The Biden speech will closely follow the anticipated final passage of the stimulus bill Tuesday in the House of Representatives. It will be his first major legislative achievement as president.