President Biden said he expects the NFL to accept an offer to use its 32 stadiums as mass vaccination sites during an interview aired Sunday.
The president told CBS’s Norah O’Donnell in the interview that aired ahead of the Super Bowl that he received a call from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, in which the commissioner suggested the league’s 32 stadiums as potential vaccination sites.
When asked if the Biden administration will accept Goodell’s offer, Biden replied, “Absolutely, we will,” before adding, “let me put it this way, I’m going to tell my team they are available and I believe that we “I’ll 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 who cannot attend school this year is “a national emergency.” pic.twitter.com/enCZsSTwHR
– CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) February 7, 2021
Biden’s public agenda for Monday indicates that he and Vice President Harris will virtually visit the vaccination site at the State Farm Stadium in Arizona, where the Arizona Cardinals are typically held.
Six other stadiums for the Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans, Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots are already being used as vaccination sites, ESPN reported..
During his CBS interview, the president when he took office last month said that “one of the disappointments” was “the circumstances associated with the administration’s handling of COVID were worse than we thought.”
“So that’s why we are performing wherever we can be,” 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 from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Portions of the interview aired ahead of the Super Bowl kickoff, which saw the Kansas City Chiefs face off against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.