Biden to skip Obama's 60th birthday bash
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
President Joe Biden won't be attending former President Barack Obama's 60th birthday party on Martha's Vineyard, according to reports.
"While President Biden is unable to attend this weekend, he looks forward to catching up with former President Obama soon and properly welcoming him into the over-60 club," a White House official told reporters. Biden will be in Washington this week before traveling to Rehoboth, Delaware, on Aug. 6.
GEORGIA REPUBLICAN SEEKS TO 'RE-FUND' POLICE AMID PUBLIC CONCERNS ABOUT BIDEN'S HANDLING OF CRIME
Biden served as vice president under Obama for two terms.
Hundreds of guests are expected at Obama's celebrity-packed outdoor bash on Wednesday despite heightened concerns over the spread of the highly contagious delta variant. The United States is reporting 79,905 new coronavirus cases daily, the highest weekly average since mid-February, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The first family's $12 million oceanfront Massachusetts home will host 475 confirmed guests, along with 200 staff working the event. Pearl Jam is expected to perform, Axios reported. A person familiar with the safety protocols told the outlet that all attendees are asked to be vaccinated and will be COVID-19 tested.
“It's going to be big,” a source told the Hill.
The event comes just days after federal health authorities urged increased caution over the rapid transmission of the new delta variant, urging vaccinated people to wear masks indoors in areas where infections are climbing. Nearly 1,000 cases were traced to gatherings in Provincetown, Massachusetts, over the Fourth of July weekend, many of them among vaccinated people.
On Martha's Vineyard island, health authorities revised their indoor mask guidance last week, including for vaccinated people, due to the virus's continued spread, said the Vineyard Gazette.
A top NIH official has said people need to use “common sense” before hosting large gatherings.
“If you’re talking about a small party like I might have at my house for six or eight people who are all fully vaccinated, I do not believe, at this point, we need to put masks on to be next to each other,” Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, told CNN on Sunday.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“But if there were 100 people, and, of course, how are you really going to be sure about people’s vaccination status?” he said. “Then the dynamic changes a little bit. There will be some need for common sense there.”
Washington Examiner Videos
Tags: News, Biden Administration, White House, Coronavirus, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Vaccination, Delta Varient
Original Author: Katherine Doyle
Original Location: Biden to skip Obama's 60th birthday bash
