exercising, dining, and socializing outdoors in small groups according to new guidance today from the cdc. federal health officials say vaccinated people can gather indoors with other fully vaccinated people and family members without masks or social distancing. the cdc says masks should remain on anywhere there is a large gathering including ballparks, malls, or churches. we will bring you president biden's remarks on the issue later this hour. france is moving toward rollout of so-called vaccine passports aimed at jump starting travel. officials say the countries covid-19 tracing app has been equipped with new function and is being deployed on services between paris and corsica. france is the first country in the eu to have a system up and running as part of the plan to introduce regionwide digital green certificates by mid june.

justin trudeau says his country will meet its target to reduce greenhouse gases to 45% of 2005 levels by 2030, despite the country's record of missing its previous goals. the prime minister spoke during the bloomberg green summit. >> it's not just about -- it's about consumption. making sure that canadians consume less fossil fuel. we are going hard toward zero emission vehicles. we are investing in retrofits. we are making sure people have better public transit. those type of investments reduce our fuel consumption. so too must the world. mark: mr. trudeau added he doesn't want to just talk about a target, he wants a concrete plan that is going to bring us to that target. the prime minister has been

facing increased scrutiny since the release of data two weeks ago showing canada is the only country in the group of seven to see harmful emissions rise between 20 to 15 and 2019. global news 24 hours a day on air and on bloomberg quicktake. powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. i'm mark crumpton. this is bloomberg. ♪ >> it is 1 p.m. in new york, 7:00 p.m. in new york. welcome to bloomberg markets. staying the course, opec-plus skips its planned meeting as the cartel pushes forward to gently hike supply and demand recovers.

plus, we will bring you live comments from president biden on the cover 19 pandemic and he may discuss his tax plan as well as he reaches his first 100 days in office. we will speak to the owner of 11 madison park about the restaurants reopening plan and how it is addressing food insecurity in underserved communities. that will be an interesting conversation as one of the world's most luxurious restaurants talks about helping the marginalized get healthy food. let's take a quick check at markets. the small caps are doing well today. the big benchmark is down about 1/10 of 1% at $41.84. the nasdaq is down as well. tesla shares sold off today even after earnings beat the street estimates. the dollar index is rising. you can see it up.

that's broadly against a basket of currencies. it is not up against bitcoin as the cryptocurrency once again rises over $55,000 today. let's get to the opec move. it is skipping its meeting but going ahead with plans to revive oil production. they going to bring back 2 million barrels per day between next month and july. joining us now is a senior fellow. why skip the meeting? do they think things are planned well enough and they need to stay the course? >> it's interesting because opec has moved to a monthly schedule for meetings. that's easier now that they have decided to do them all virtually. this week, they had technical meeting then today, a monitoring

committee meeting. as we just found out, at the end of the meeting they tacked on a little ministerial meeting. they did hold the ministerial meeting it was kept under wraps and they confirmed what they decided last month, which was starting in may, they are going to raise production by a total of 400,000 barrels per day and they will continue to gradually increase the amount of oil they are putting on the market until we get to 2 million barrels per day which we will see in july. because they meet every month, they have decided they will meet june 1 and they could tweak those numbers somewhat as they seem to like to do these days. matt: what does the demand to look like right now? we have to assume with the reopening in the u.s. the people are driving even more. his demand increasing to

expectations? >> that's a good question. opec thinks the demand is going to increase over 5 million barrels per day between now and the end of the year. if you look at that and you compare it to what the eia in the u.s. is saying, they are also seeing an increase in demand. the eia makes that u.s. to muster production is going to increase by 900,000 barrels per day to help meet that demand. a lot of people are looking at that number and saying that doesn't sound right. they don't think a some we are hearing out of producers particularly in fracking they are not looking to increase production and without much. we might get half that much, which means that there is more room for opec to add more barrels to the market if they want to or to hold them back and for oil prices to start to rise as we see the demand picking up

over the summer. on the other hand, we have a situation in india which is throwing a wrench into some of these ideas. matt: how serious is the situation in india? on the human side, it is tragic. we are seeing higher numbers of covid infection. how seriously is it affecting demand? >> we are not seeing a huge impact in demand. india consumes 4 million barrels per day. they import just about all of that. indian refineries are still producing and some people think that even if demand goes down in india, they may continue to produce the refined product with the idea that if are not going to be consumed in india, they will be able to sell them elsewhere in the region where demand is staying strong. have to keep an eye ont

matt: matt: closely for now. how important is the resumption in flights, a pickup in manufacturing, the higher prices and shipping? a lot of these big institutional players hedge and purchase out months in advance. they still must impact the supply demand equation. >> absolutely. manufacturing is probably a bigger factor than jet fuel at this point. what we did see during the worst of the pandemic was that refineries shifted to produce less jet fuel per barrel of oil they were processing and they said more into petrochemical manufacturing. in the u.s., our petrochemical manufacturing has gone up to about 30%, where it was previously about 25%. they have shifted to this. if we suddenly see a big jump in jet fuel demand, we could see an imbalance in the market because

refineries have shifted to producing less jet fuel because of the drop in demand. matt: we will watch those prices. in terms of the plain-vanilla nymex contract, where do expect prices to go in the next few months? >> we are definitely looking towards prices to go up, but a lot of it depends on whether opec decides to put more barrels on the market and if u.s. demand goes up as people think it goes up, it will go up. domestic production doesn't meet that. with some of the political issues going on in terms of production on federal land, a lot of producers are more hesitant to bring more barrels online. this could be an issue over the summer, and we could see higher prices. matt: great to get some time with you. coming up, we will speak to the

chef of 11 madison park about the high and restaurants reopening plan and how it is addressing food insecurity across new york. this is bloomberg. ♪

matt: this is markets. 11 madison park has been voted the world's best restaurant. as it prepares to reopen, it is also addressing food insecurity with a nonprofit that serves meals to underserved communities around new york. joining us to discuss is the chef and co-owner.

you typically serve the wealthiest diners in new york. you are reaching out to the marginalized community to get them healthy meals. how is that effort? >> thank you so much and it's nice to talk to you. it was really the pandemic that forced us to think differently. at first, the whole industry was shut down and all of the jobs were at risk. at the same time, we had the amount of food insecure people doubling here in new york. we also had farmers who were sitting on food and a going bad. we went right from the beginning , we turned 11 madison park into a community kitchen where in the past year, we cooked over one million meals out of the kitchen

. that usually prepares these high-end meals. it has been devastating, but at the same time, it has felt like a little bit of a gift to us. i made the promise to myself that when we reopen the restaurant, which wasn't always clear it was if not a for sure thing because we were really hurting financially obviously because there was no business. i made a prod -- a promise that when we reopen, to work to provide meals to food insecure people wouldn't stop because it was so meaningful and so moving. matt: i was just going to ask, would you continue on with this effort as you start to welcome diners back into your credibly tedious restaurant -- prestigious restaurant? >> we launched a food truck a

few weeks ago. we also started selling 11 madison home meals. really beautiful meals for weekends or special occasions. part of that price goes toward operating this food truck that is operated by the 11 madison part team that gives away food to insecure people on a daily paid -- basis. we do reopen, a part of every meal we will provide five males for the food insecure. what i love about it is the circular economy that everyone who is part of 11 madison park, suppliers everyone has their hands in doing good. it's a new model for luxury and

using our platform and being this culinary destination in other ways. matt: a lot of people wonder why the restaurant industry that is getting hit the hardest is the one to reach out like this? you think it's a model that wall street could follow as well? goldman sachs, which is doing so well and i don't mean to single them out, a lot of the big banks are doing incredibly well during the pandemic, they also have programs like this where they reach out to marginalized communities. >> i think it is an issue that has been overlooked, and that is unacceptable. it is unacceptable to have 2 million people in new york city figure food insecure and have on the other hand some other people creating that much wealth.

there has to be a correction. i do hope that some of these big companies with think about this and will think about how to get behind some of these initiatives. food insecurity is a problem that can be solved. there is enough food. there is not a food shortage. it's just the communication isn't proper. the support is not there. i really do think that we can solve this problem. matt: the infrastructure is not there. that's why you have something people that just are within reach of healthy food. their only choices are bad choices. you are also in a great position to convince some of the biggest movers and shakers in new york to help out. they want a reservation at your restaurant when you reopen. will you be in talks with some

of these financiers to try to help finance a food truck themselves? >> absolutely. for me, we have reached the number one restaurant in the world. we reached three michelin stars. we reached four stars in the new york times and they are wonderful and we are going to continue to celebrate food in this way. but we are going to use our platform also to raise awareness to these issues and hopefully make a difference. the magic of food is on all levels. we all eat a meal on a daily basis, everyone. it has been really moving being in these neighborhoods. i have been in these really poor neighborhoods like you are saying. of course on one side, it is devastating. on the other hand, there are these angels who are working in these community organizations

who are doing god's work. these are the people that we need to support. there is actually infrastructure , it's just not strong enough and there's not enough funding the goes towards this. also, you know the way government funding goes toward food insecurity, there needs to be a correction also because the systems are antiquated. matt: you've got about 20 seconds left. i want to know when you are to be reopening 11 madison park. >> we can announce that our restaurant is reopening on june 10. that will be a beautiful thing. to get our guests back into the restaurant and our teams. matt: hopefully, i can get my vaccination and get back there to join you.

thank you for talking about this wonderful program, a great idea. i want to get something the caught my eye. we all know about the craze around nba topshop, the highlights supported by entities. now the golden state warriors are looking to take things up a notch. the team is conducting an online auction of an mft -- nft option that includes digital collectibles to some of its most memorable games. the sale accepts payment only and either with some of the proceeds go to the warriors community foundation. we can get those funds to daniel's effort with the food truck. as president biden prepares to address his first joint session of congress, we will take a look at his first 100 days in office. this is bloomberg. ♪

♪ matt: this is "bloomberg markets." biden will deliver his first address as president to a joint session of congress tomorrow as he enters the milestone of his first 100 days. he has a long list of challenges ahead of him. it's all in this week's edition of bloomberg businessweek. we are joined by nancy cook who cowrote the story. he first have to look back at the first 100 days. it is easy to argue that the by the administration has achieved a lot, although a lot of it you have to say has been on the wings of the trump vaccine procurement. >> that's right. they inherited these crises, which is the pandemic.

then, the economic downturn. so much of the first 100 days has been around -- about responding to these crises. they have done a good job of ramping up the vaccine efforts and the vaccine distribution. there's a lot more people vaccinated than there were before. they have passed a sweeping $1.9 trillion covert relief bill which no republicans supported, but some republicans still continue to tout in their home districts. that did a lot to help americans get back on their feet in the middle of this crisis. that is what these 100 days have been about. the pandemic and the economy. trying to get both of those things under control. >> what is the biggest challenge that he faces? i know he wants to bring out another spending package and he wants to raise taxes. at least the latter is something that republicans are vehemently report opposed to.

>> the challenges he faces for the next 100 days are huge. it is the myriad of issues. immigration is a huge issue. we see so many migrants flooding the southern border. that is not something the white house is figured out how to deal with. they have progressives and people in the democratic party who want him focused more on voting rights legislation or getting rid of the filibuster. joe biden himself and his team are trying to pass to more huge legislative packages that could total as much as $4 trillion. that's what they want to do to reshape the economy and push through their agenda. while the first 100 days a really about trying to get control of these crises, the next 100 days are going to be about a feeling which -- with a much broader array of problems and addressing his priorities. going to be harder, because republicans are really in support of these two legislative packages. it's going to be test of if he

can pass it with just democratic support. matt: thank you ray much for joining us. i know you are incredibly busy. nancy cook is our white house correspondent in washington. tune into our special -- special coverage on wednesday night of president biden's address that begins at 8:30 p.m. new york time. set your dvr. coming up, the crypto climate debate. we will speak to the cofounder of ripple about the concerns around energy intensive crypto mining. this is bloomberg. ♪

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amanda: welcome to "bloomberg markets." matt: we welcome our bloomberg and bnn bloomberg audiences. here's what we are following around the world. as the globe shifts towards a greener future, the energy-intensive crypto mining operations are falling behind the trend. we will discuss with chris larson, cofounder of ripple. will hear from justin trudeau on the country's green ambitions. the latest on the bloomberg green summit. and, full speed ahead for ford. how the automaker is pulling all the stops as it shifts to electric. the chief product platform and operations officer will talk about battery production and electrifying their fleet. amanda? amanda: speaking of

electrification, earnings may well be driving the market to the extent they can be driven anywhere. pretty flat out there. quiet had a big tickets this week. big names reporting results in the fed midweek. it's about as close as you can get to the breakeven on the internals. utilities, tech showing up on the weak end. still off the recent spike up in the yield. all eyes on whether there is changes from the fed on the inflation front. the fed is waiting for inflation to be real, not projected. earlier today, jeff gundlach spoke and said he is less convinced in the fed's ability

to be sure it is transitory and be certain it knows what to do. jeff: nobody knows. i most concerned about the fact the fed thinks they know and there are plenty of indicators that suggest inflation will go higher and not just on a transitory basis for a couple of months. we will see. that is how i think the fed is trying to big picture but they are guessing. amanda: for what it's worth, when investors like that talk, uncertainty around expectations for market deals will go, that has a ripple effect, including with a pivot from one asset class to another. matt: absolutely. when jeff speaks, the market certainly listens. it's always interesting to hear what he has to say, as well as sometimes -- i don't know if controversial is the right word, but is up against the consensus.

according to a recent poll of surveyed economist at bloomberg, we expect the fed to start tapering by the end of the year. most economists don't inspect the fed to raise rates until 2023. amanda: indeed. we are out there keeping our eye on the crypto world. a lot of talk about the green economy, promises made this week by world leaders and elsewhere. i want to bring in chris larson, founder and executive chair of ripple. there is talk about the carbon footprint in crypto. i want to come back to that. we heard tesla. they will be dependent on what happens to bitcoin. somebody tweeting today it's worth noting that the carbon footprint of bitcoin represents more cars, the admissions of more cars and tesla sold last year. -- than tesla sold last year. it needs to be addressed.

chris: that's right. worse than that, it is the act of tesla investing in bitcoin that created the price going up enough to offset their entire year's co2 savings. the carbon footprint and energy use of bitcoin is tied to the price of bitcoin. as investors violin -- pile in it makes the problem worse. we need to get to know just a green market but a low energy consumption crypto market. it is not necessary to be using that kind of energy. we have proven other methods beyond mining and they are low energy and low carbon. xrp's ledger uses the energy of 50 u.s. homes and is very carbon neutral. bitcoin is using 12 million u.s. homes and growing rapidly. we don't have to do it that way. hats off to the etherium folks.

they are switching over. matt: a lot of people pitch bitcoin mining operations to me. i don't know why. there was no way i can finance that sort of thing. it is always near a hydro-source or a solar power source or nuclear energy, all of which have no carbon emissions. just last week, kathy wood said bitcoin encourages people to use more renewable energy. is that incorrect? i can't understand how these calculations are made in light of the fact that so much bitcoin is mind with renewables. chris: the report endorsed by square was frankly shocking. it's an example of the greenwashing that goes on not only in the bitcoin world but in plenty of places that are on the wrong side of the climate efforts. it's unfortunate. most of the mining unfortunately

is based in china. 65% of that is coal. the problem is bitcoin mining is global. even if the u.s. was all renewables, two cents per kilowatt hour on solar, that cannot compete with saudi fossil fuels that are half a cent per kilowatt hour. same with iran. give up on the go to a carbon neutral world. what will happen to fossil fuels and coal prices? they will collapse. that is the worst case scenario for carbon leakage. bitcoin would be an avenue for monetizing those fossil fuels. it is not necessary. they just need to switch to a low energy, low carbon method. those methods and other methods like federated consensus are proving -- there's some must a decade of proof behind it. it is time to switch. amanda: you are talking about the essence of what makes

bitcoin different from every other cryptocurrency. for some of us the essence of what makes bitcoin bazaar and hard to really -- bizare and hard to really understand where the value lies. it sounds as though there is a case where crypto moves beyond bitcoin. some other cryptocurrency becomes the dominant player, not the first to the game. chris: in some ways you see that with etherium. caps off. -- hats off. great move. i'm a believer in going. it has -- in bitcoin. it is a huge following. it just has to get out this religion about mining. i think he can maintain its number one position. there will be others, a top 10 or top 20. the currencies without a counterparty are very usable for making remittances low cost.

they have to get off this religion and make the switch. it is not easy, but is not easy for a utility to switch from coal to natural gas or solar but it has to be done. matt: why hasn't xrp gained if the kind of traction summative people thought it would've couple of years ago? what held it back? chris: frankly it is the regulatory clearing. we have a lot of regulatory clarity and key parts of the world, japan, singapore, u.k., switzerland, uae. that's good. when he that clarity. it is being used and utilized in very effective ways that are helping humans. in the u.s., 10 years and if we don't have the regulatory clarity. that is holding back the u.s. market for crypto. that's unfortunate. matt: why has x rp and singled out? why have regulators singled out

ripple? chris: good question. it is perplexing in many ways. xrp was declared a currency by the obama treasury in 2015. it's been out there in the world for almost nine years. hundreds of billions of dollars have been traded. it has utility. we think that was a perplexing move that happened, the last days of the trump administration . we are hoping we can get the clarity in the u.s. and that will allow the u.s. to be rightfully the number one when it comes to fintech and crypto, just like every other part of the internet. amanda: you are dealing with the sec suit. correct me if i'm wrong, it's over issues you have settled with the department of justice? that causes confusion about

where the regulator is. where you get the clarity on how the space will be regulated? this is a lot of backdated issues. chris: unfortunately we are not there in the u.s. yet. it is not just a ripple issue. it's an issue across fintech and crypto in general. give the u.s. wants to be number one, the problem is -- is not really a problem but it's a complexity. we have financial regulators. we have had a tremendous insight but most of them. the federal reserve has been fantastic. it's been super innovative and forward thinking. we have not quite got there yet with the securities regulators. i think we will get there is an industry. that will be essential if the u.s. is going to stay on top. it is too easy for innovators to move to places like singapore and work with the regulators there, or the u.k..

a fantastic relationship. we have to get our act together or we will lose the race to china, which is racing ahead. matt: are you optimistic about gary gensler coming in? chris: commissioner gansler is very knowledgeable about the space. he taught a course at m.i.t. i think part of this administration will be a lot more climate-focused. focusing on green crypto. we are hopeful but we will have to wait and see. matt: fascinating stuff, chris. definitely something people want to look into and read more about how bitcoin minors can make this change, create this fork. it would be interesting. chris larson, ripple co-founder bringing up some important points. i want to send it over to mark crumpton with first word news. mark: fully vaccinated americans can be unmasked when exercising,

dining and socializing outdoors in small groups. yes according to new guidance from the centers for disease control and prevention. >> for vaccinated people, out of activities without a mask are safe. however, we continue to reprimand -- recommend masten outdoor crowds and venues. it's also safer those vaccinated return to the activities they love doing inside while wearing a mask. mark: the recommendations represent one of the most significant relaxations of guidelines since the pandemic began. nearly 30% of americans are now fully vaccinated against covid. president biden is expected to speak any moment on this issue. little bring you those comments live. two new cases of blood clots linked to johnson & johnson's vaccine are being investigated by the federal health officials. the centers for disease control tells bloomberg news one case was in a male and the other was

a female, both of whom are younger than 60 years old. the new reports bring the total of cases to 17 out of 8.1 million doses administered in united states. the white house has reportedly been thinking of raising the u.s. cap on refugees to about 62,500 less than two weeks after it indicated the target might not be realistic. provide administration originally announced that cap in february. jen psaki later seemed tobacco from that number. sources tell the washington post the moving target is due in part to a policy review it is -- that is still underway. a court in moscow says a group founded by alexei navalny needs to limit its activities for fighting corruption. as the latest move against president putin's most vocal critic. the court is said to decide whether to ban the organizations

and regional offices as extremists. that could expose his supporters to lengthy prison time. global news, 24 hours a day, on air and on bloomberg quicktake, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. i am mark crumpton this is bloomberg. ♪

matt: this is "bloomberg markets ." the bloomberg green summit is underway. one of the guests earlier was the prime minister of canada, justin trudeau, who discussed the country's green agenda. >> this year, with the conference, with the americans stepping up after a few years of

lapse on climate leadership, it's a great time to see the momentum we are building. francine: you have increased your targets but you are quite a long way off from the u.k. for the eu. can canada do better than the targets? >> it's important to understand everyone is in different circumstances. we have done over the past five years a tremendous amount of work on moving forward to reach our existing targets. it is not just about targets. it's about having a plan. we had an old target of 30%. we got to 31%. we moved the plan to 36%. now we are talking but a target of 40% to 45%. we know for example phasing out coal and coal generation is one thing the americans are doing. we have already done that. as we get more and more aggressive we have to rely on things we are doing that other

people aren't yet doing. francine: a lot of people, climate watchers are disappointed with the efforts that canada has put in place. we will talk about new targets. the target of 45% reduction is relative to 2005, which flatters your efforts if measured against the 1990 benchmark and the kyoto protocols. what do you say to the critics who thinks canada is greenwashing? p.m. trudeau: everyone needs to do more. the fact we have one of the realest prices on pollution of our peer countries and we are an exporter of energy, a producer of energy. that is a challenge not all other countries have. amanda: that was justin trudeau, prime minister of canada. sticking with the green theme, full speed ahead on electric for ford when it comes to batteries. coming up, we speak with the company's chief onyx officer. state -- chief product officer.

stay with us. ♪

amanda: this is "bloomberg markets." we are seeing more companies committing to new technologies that push them deeper into the green energy space. for ford, it is doubling down on its electric battery technology with a new battery development park. hau thai-tang is the chief operations officer for ford. great to happy you with us. i want to start with the ford ion park. it's a big commitment of money. it's bringing together a kind of cross-section of innovation technology and investment. what do you have to have happened? hau: thanks are having us on. this is a big next step in terms of accelerating to battery electric vehicles. we know to do that well we have to have control over the supply

of batteries and drive improvements of technology in terms of energy density and driving the cost down. the creation of this multidisciplinary team a help us do that. matt: how much on shoring are going to see here? there is so much talk in light of the recent chip shortage in the supply chain disruptions we saw during the pandemic. his ford planning on bringing much more work back to the u.s.? hau: absolutely. ford is already the largest automotive employer in the u.s., want to build on that. part of this announcement is the creation of 150 jobs dedicated to this center of excellence around batteries. going forward, as we build the electric vehicles in the u.s., we have made announcements for building a new plant for the f-150 battery electric vehicle. we will build ee-transit, an

electrified version of the elector five vans -- electrified vans. it will really help us not only secure supply but also build jobs in america. amanda: it does pale in the comparison to some of the events we have seen by rivals, including general motors. are you hoping to build your own or by the technology you need to be a fully electric producer of cars? hau: yes, amanda. as we see the growth in demand for electrified vehicles we are seeing sufficient scale to justify levels of investment for a dedicated facility to build batteries just for ford. we want to first create the expertise and develop the competency. this is a new space for many traditional so we want to get one with the right level of knowledge and expertise to understand the know-how and do it well, with quality at high volume.

that has been a trait of ford threat the last century. matt: are there specific pieces of this administration's infrastructure bill that are going to help america electrify our highways? hau: i think certainly the biden administration has been very strong around pushing for zero omissions and making a difference around climate change. as an oem, ford has been a leader. we were one of the first aside with california. we love the certainty that provides. we find for our business with our long planning horizons and the intensity of our businesses, the certainty is better for us. matt: the president is stepping up and taping off -- taking off his mask. we will bring our viewers to washington. president biden: ticket is to july 4 -- to get us to july 4. that is our target date to get closer to normal and celebrate

our independence from the virus together with our friends and loved ones as we celebrate independence day. before that, i wanted to speak to all of you today about the recent change announced by the centers for disease control and prevention, the cdc. let me say first, while we still have a long way to go in the fight, a lot of work to do in may and june to get us to july 4, we made stunning progress because of all of you, the american people. cases and deaths are down. down dramatically from where they were when i took office in january. and continuing to fall. this particularly is true for a group of americans we were worried about when it came to the virus, senior citizens. when i took office in january, we were losing literally tens of

thousands of our seniors each week. grandparents we loved so dearly. moms and dads, pillars of the community, gone by the thousands every day. at that time less than 1% of seniors were fully vaccinated when i took office. today, in less than 100 days, more than 67%, two thirds of our seniors are now fully vaccinated. more than 80% of our seniors have had at least one shot. that effort resulted in a drop of 80% in deaths among american seniors. a 70% drop in hospitalizations. instead of losing thousands of seniors each day we are saving thousands of lives and more and more as each day goes by.

based on reported data, the proportion of seniors who have been vaccinated is essentially equal between white and seniors of color. i said from the beginning that we are going to fight this virus with equity. equity for all. if i'm not mistaken, there are more latinos and african-american seniors that have been vaccinated as a percentage than white seniors. these numbers are assigned of progress on that front as well. now, last week, i announced we had crossed the threshold of 200 million shots. since inauguration day we have given 215 million shots. anyone 60 or older is now

eligible to get the vaccine now, today, immediately. because of the extorting every progress we have made in fighting this virus and the progress our scientists have made in learning about how it gets transmitted, earlier today, the cdc made an important announcement. starting today, if you are fully vaccinated and you are outdoors, you -- not in a big crowd -- you no longer need to wear a mask. i want to be absolutely clear. if you are in a crowd, like a stadium or conference or concert, you still need to wear a mask. even if you are outside. beginning today, gathering with a group of friends in a park, going for a picnic, as long as you are vaccinated and outdoors, you can do it without a mask. the cdc is able to make this

announcement because our scientists are convinced by the data that the odds of getting or giving the virus to others is very low if you are both fully vaccinated and out in the open air. the cdc also clarified which activities are safer or less safe depending on whether you have been vaccinated. the bottom line is clear. if you are vaccinated, you can do more things, more safely, both outdoors as well as indoors. for those who have not gotten the vaccination yet, especially if you are younger or think you don't need it, this is another great reason to go get vaccinated. now. now. yes, vaccines are about saving your life. but also the lives of the people around you.

but they are also