93-3-WMR Audio on Demand presents the Preston and Steve show podcast.

And now, Preston and Steve's news update with Kathy Romano.

Today is Friday, and it is March 12th.

Good morning, Kathy.

Good morning in the news this morning.

One year after the nation was brought to a near standstill by the coronavirus, President Joe Biden used his first prime time address Thursday night to announce his plans to make all adults vaccine eligible by May 1st and begin to mark our independence from this virus by the 4th of July. He offered Americans fresh hope and appealed anew for their help. Speaking in the White House East Room, Biden announced moves to speed vaccinations,

including lifting eligibility qualifications,

deploying an additional 4,000 active duty troops to support vaccination efforts

and allowing more people such as medical students, veterinarians, and dentists to deliver shots.

He is also directing more doses towards

950 community health centers and up to 20,000 retail pharmacies to make it easier for people

to get vaccinated closer to their homes. His aim is to let Americans gather, at least in

small groups, for the 4th of July, and make this Independence Day truly special.

Biden was marking one year since the onset of the pandemic that has killed more than

530,000 Americans and disrupted the lives of countless more.

And we have a clip from last night.

It was different for everyone.

We all lost something, a collective suffering, a collective sacrifice, a year filled with the loss of life and the loss of living for all of us.

But in the loss, we saw how much there was to gain.

Earlier Thursday, Biden signed into law $1.9 trillion relief package that he said will help

defeat the virus, nurse the economy back to

health and deliver direct aid to Americans in need. Some direct checks could begin arriving this

...