WASHINGTON, February 20. /TASS/. The overall number of coronavirus-related deaths in the United States will exceed 500,000 in the coming days, US President Joe Biden said on Friday.
"In a few days, we’ll cross 500,000 Americans who will have died from COVID-19. Five hundred thousand. That is almost 70,000 more than all the Americans who died in World War Two, over a four-year period," the US leader said at a Pfizer production facility in Michigan.
According to Biden, the United States will start returning back to normal in late 2021, but everything can change rapidly.
"I believe we’ll be approaching normalcy by the end of this year. And God willing, this Christmas will be different than the last," he said. "But I can’t make that commitment to you. There are other strains of the virus. We don’t know what could happen in terms of production rates. Things can change. But we’re doing everything the science has indicated we should do, and people are stepping up to get everything done that has to be done."
"I can’t give you a date when this crisis will end, but I can tell you we’re doing everything possible to have that day come sooner rather than later," Biden continued. "We’re going to beat this."
"We’re not going to get our economy back in shape and the millions of people back to work until we beat this virus," he added.
The US leader also expressed hope that his plan to vaccinate 100 million US citizens during the first 100 days of his presidency will be fulfilled. "I’m confident we’ll exceed the number," he said.
According to the Johns Hopkins University, which gives estimates based on information from federal and local authorities, more than 27.95 mln coronavirus cases have been registered in the United States, 495,015 people have died. The country ranks first in the world for both indicators.