Sanders promises free coronavirus vaccine during speech in St. Louis, criticizes Biden
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, assailing the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, guaranteed Monday that a vaccine would be available free of charge to all Americans should he be elected president.
Speaking to a crowd at St. Louis’ Stifel Theater a week before the Illinois primary — and two days after Missouri’s first COVID-19 case was confirmed in St. Louis County — Sanders noted that the president “couldn’t guarantee that people would be able to afford” a vaccine once one is developed.
He was apparently referring to a statement by Health and Human Services Secretary, Alex Azar, who sparked anger late last month when he told a Congressional hearing that “we can’t control the price because we need the private sector to invest.”
Sanders said the vaccine would be free to all under his administration.
“And is that a radical statement?” he asked. “That is the most obvious statement anybody could make.”
Sanders also had criticism for his principal opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, who voted for the war in Iraq and a Wall Street bailout, both of which he opposed. Sanders added that, unlike Biden, he can create the energy needed to defeat President Donald Trump in November.
“My point here is to ask you to think, in a general election, which candidate can generate the enthusiasm and voter excitement we need?” he said.
Sanders promised to legalize marijuana federally, raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, make college tuition free, ban private prisons and stop the practice of keeping people in jail because they can’t afford bail. He also committed to increased funding for Planned Parenthood.
Sanders follows two days after Joe Biden made campaign stops in St. Louis and Kansas City. He canceled an appearance scheduled for Monday in Kansas City.
St. Louisan Diamond Spencer attended the rally with her husband, Justin, and their 10-month-old daughter, Zora. The Spencers said they want “radical change” and believe Sanders is the presidential candidate who will deliver on economic, health care and student loan reform.
“We have a candidate who can make those changes,” Diamond Spencer said. “I trust him.”
Spencer added she particularly likes Sanders’ Medicare for All policy, a federally-funded health care system that would effectively replace the private insurance industry. Biden would preserve the Affordable Care Act, Obama’s signature policy, and build on it with a public option.
Neither Spencer nor her husband said they would vote for Biden in the general election if he won the Democratic nomination.
“If Biden were chosen, we’d be writing in Bernie like we did in 2016,” Diamond Spencer said.
College student Sydney Bialek, 19, drove in from Kansas City with a friend to see Sanders speak. She’s a student at Northwest Missouri State University, which is on spring break this week.
“It was a great opportunity for me to come see Bernie speak,” said Bialek, who will be voting in her first presidential primary Tuesday. She has supported Sanders since 2016, though she couldn’t vote at the time.
Sanders’ plans for student loan debt are “big” for Bialek, she said. He has pledged to cancel student loan debt.
St. Louis Alderwoman Megan Green urged attendees to sign up to canvass through primary day.
“Each of us sharing our Bernie stories at the door is what’s going to make the difference tomorrow,” Green said.
This story was originally published March 9, 2020 at 1:43 PM with the headline "Sanders promises free coronavirus vaccine during speech in St. Louis, criticizes Biden."
