Though a Democratic politician, Joe Biden has remained under public scrutiny by both sides of the aisle throughout his recent presidency. One of the main issues facing the White House: what the f*ck do we do about Covid-19? 

While Biden’s administration tackles the pandemic, Americans wait for the House and Senate actions to support his endeavors. And, citizens are left wondering: how is Biden handling Covid, really? 

Reopening of Schools, K-12

Before his official presidency, Biden made promises to open grade schools (K-12) within the first 100 days of his leadership. As part of his Covid-19 relief plan, Biden has been pushing Congress to approve funding for K-12 schools, as well as universities and colleges, which would allow them to fund Covid-safe operations and organize online learning. The president is consistently a vocal supporter of reopening K-12 schools by May, but some officials remain skeptical. As reported by CNN, Dr. Anthony Fauci - the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as well as the previous chief medical advisor to Donald Trump - is not as confident that this deadline will be met.

Additionally, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has published his “five-point plan” in USA Today, in an attempt to address procedures for safely returning children to schooling. His plan mostly includes gathering the opinions of medical experts and educational professionals, pooling knowledge on the best ways to reopen schools. Cardona promises better data collection on current Covid-19 school operations and cooperation with the Education Department to fix any issues.

However, others in the Biden administration have been more vague. As covered by CNN, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky has explained that teachers do not need to be vaccinated to return to schools, but that “community spread” needs to be under control before reopening. Previously, Dr. Walensky had stated that teachers did need to be vaccinated, but backed off of this statement. Press Secretary Jen Psaki has stated that Biden’s main goal was to have students back in classrooms “at least one day a week”. And yet, a plan to enforce this “one day a week” schedule has not been clearly established. 

Relief Plan 

As of March 9, Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief plan has been placed back in the hands of the House of Representatives. Congress has the potential to pass a bill ensuring $1,400 stimulus checks, as well as funding for vaccines and reopening of schools. Once terms have been agreed upon by both parties in the House, Biden will be able to sign off on the relief bill. 

The relief bill originally passed the House in February, sending it to the Senate for approval. The Senate made some changes - for example, the exclusion of the original $15 minimum wage -  and the bill now needs re-approval from the House of Representatives. If the House makes no additional changes, the bill will be sent to Biden. Some House Democrats, such as Rep. Pete Aguilar from California, are confident that the relief plan will pass. “We’ll pass it, and it’ll get signed into law by the 14th (of March),” Aguilar said to USA Today. 

Others are not so sure about the bill. For some progressives, there is concern surrounding the Senate exclusions from the bill. In an attempt to please moderate Democrats, changes - - such as a decrease in eligible population for stimulus checks and less money in unemployment benefits -- were made. For more progressive members of the House, this is a make-or-break problem. Democratic Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey publically considered voting against the bill, citing the necessity of an increased minimum wage. 

For Republicans, the bill is not favorable. Many Republicans have accused Democrats in Congress of using the relief plan to “pass a bunch of unrelated liberal spending”, Chris Hartline tells NBC News, as the spokesperson for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Also reported by NBC, the GOP seems to want drastic changes to the bill. Republicans have been pushing for re-approval of the Keystone pipeline, restrictions on relief payments to undocumented Americans, and repercussions for schools that include transgender athletes in their “girls sports” -- all attached to the Covid-19 relief bill. Because of these issues, Democrats expect to eventually pass the bill with little Republican support. 

Democrats continue to insist that the $1.9 trillion budget for Covid-19 relief is necessary. But, it is still to be determined if this funding will make an immediate or meaningful impact on the lives of mid-pandemic citizens. However, it does seem to be Biden’s vehicle for delivering on his Covid-19 promises. 

Vaccines

Originally, Biden promised to immunize every adult by the end of the summer in 2021. This promise included roughly 300 million Americans, and therefore the production of 300 million vaccines. Over time, Biden has actually become increasingly optimistic about vaccine distribution. The president now predicts that the United States will have these 300 million vaccines during the month of May. However, this means that the vaccines will be in the government’s possession. Distribution is a whole other animal. 

When it comes to production, though, Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson lead the charge. The companies have dedicated themselves to manufacturing 240 million vaccines by the end of March. If this quota is met, it could mean vaccination for almost every adult American. While there is not yet a set distribution plan, overall vaccine distribution has greatly increased since December. If vaccines can continue to be administered quickly, Biden may deliver on his promises in May. 

Overall, it is hard to measure Joe Biden’s success concerning the Covid-19 pandemic. According to an Associated Press Poll, around 70% of Americans approve of Biden’s pandemic actions so far. But, there is still work to be done. Americans expect great action from the president and critics continue to push him to deliver on his promises. This includes deliverance of immigration policy, foreign policy and environmental reform, and confrontation of numerous other American issues -- not just stimulus checks.