President Biden said he expects the NFL to take on an offer to use the 32 stadiums as mass vaccination sites during an interview aired Sunday.
The president told Norah O’Donnell of CBS in an interview with the Super Bowl that he had received a call from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, in which the commissioner offered the 32 stadiums of the league as potential vaccination sites.
When asked if the Biden administration would take over Goodell’s offer, Biden replied, “Absolutely, we will,” before adding, “Let me say this, I will tell my team that they are available and I think “I will use them. ”
SUPER BOWL INTERVIEW: Pres. Biden sits down with @NorahODonnell for his first network interview since taking office.
Pres. Biden says it is time for “schools to reopen safely,” adding that about 20 million children unable to attend school this year “are a national emergency.” pic.twitter.com/enCZsSTwHR
– CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) February 7, 2021
Biden’s public schedule for Monday indicates that he and Vice President Harris will virtually visit the vaccination site at Arizona’s State Farm Stadium, which usually hosts the Arizona Cardinals.
Six other stadiums belonging to the Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans, Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots are also already used as vaccination sites, ESPN reported..
During his CBS interview, the president said that when he took office last month, “one of the disappointments” was that “the circumstances surrounding the administration’s management of COVID were even worse than I thought.”
“That’s why we went up wherever we could,” he said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved two COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use, allowing more than 31.5 million to receive one or more doses of the vaccine and more than 9.1 million to receive two doses, according to data Centers for Disease Control and Prevention..
Parts of the interview were broadcast before the start of the Super Bowl, in which the Kansas City bosses faced the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.