vaccine be available for them? i strongly support independent scientific review for vaccine uses for children under 12. we can t take shortcuts of that scientific work, but i ve made it clear i will do everything within my power to support the fda with any resource it needs to continue to do this as safely and as quickly as possible, and our nation s top doctors are committed to keeping the public at large up dated on the process so parents can plan. now to the schools. we know that if schools follow the science and implement the safety measures like testing, masking, adequate ventilation systems that we provided the money for, social distancing and vaccinations then children can be safe from covid-19 in schools. today about 90% of school staff
in early july i announced the deployment of surge response teams. these are teams comprised of experts from the department of health and human services, the cdc, the defense department and the federal emergency management agency fema to areas in the country that need help to stem the spread of covid-19. since then the federal government has deployed nearly 1,000 staff including doctors, nurses, paramedics into 18 states. today. i m announcing that the defense department will double number of military health teams, that they will deploy to help their fellow americans and hospitals around the country. additionally we re increasing the availability of new medicines recommended by real doctors, not conspiracy theorists. the monoclonal antibody treatments have been shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization by up to 70% for
powerful but what the president is announcing a series of bold and ambitious steps to address covid and save more clifs and protect more people. here is president biden. let s listen in. the progress we ve made and the work we have left to do, and it starts in understanding this. even as delta variant 19 covid-19 has been hitting this country hard, we have the tools to combat the virus if we can come together and use those tools. if we raise our vaccination rates and protect ourselves anders would masking and expanding testing and identifying people who are infected, we can and we will turn the tide on covid-19. it will take a lot of hard work, and it s going to take some time. many of us are frustrated with the nearly 80 million americans who are still not vaccinated even though the vaccine is safe,
every 160,000 fully vaccinated americans was hospitalized for covid per day. these are the facts so here s where we stand. the path ahead, even with the delta variant, is not nearly as bad as last winter. what makes it incredibly more frustrating is that we have the tools to combat covid-19 and a distinct minority of americans supported by a distinct minority of elected officials are keeping us from turning the corner. these pandemic politics as i remember to are making people sick causing unidentified people to die. we cannot allow these actions to stand in the way of the large majority of americans who have done their part and want to get back to life as normal. as your president i m announcing tonight a new plan to require more americans to be vaccinated
this progress undo it. turn it back, so tonight i m announcing additional steps to strengthen our economic recovery. we ll be expanding covid-19 economic injury disaster loan programs. that s a program that s going to allow small businesses to borrow up to $2 million from the current $500,000 to keep going if covid-19 impacts on their sales. these low interest long-term loans require no repayment for two years and can be used to hire and retain workers, purchase inventory or even pay down higher cost debt rocked up since the pandemic began. i ll also be taking additional steps to help small businesses stay afloat during the pandemic. sixth, we re going to continue to improve the care of those who do get covid-19.