The COVD-19 pandemic has taken the lives of over 40 million in the U.S., with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reporting over 39 million cases.  

The numbers are staggering, and are beginning to impact the children in the country.   

President Joe Biden aims to thwart the virus and will announce strenuous plans on Thursday, Sept. 9, to return the country to normalcy.   

“We’re seeing more children who are getting sick and more other kids around them are quarantined and unable to actually go to school,” said White House Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy. “So, their learning is interrupted. The Delta variant is pushing back hard and we need to push back harder, and we have the knowledge to do that, we have the ability to do that and I believe our country will do that.”  

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden’s goal is to stress the importance of vaccines, get more people vaccinated and administer more testing for school-age children, who represent 25% of new COVID-19 cases.  

Related: ‘Do It Afraid’: Minnesota Mother Gets Vaccinated to Fulfill Son’s Birthday Wish  

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Delta variant can spread rapidly in schools when unvaccinated teachers and staff have close, indoor contact with unvaccinated children. While children have been less affected by COVID-19 than adults, they can get sick with COVID-19 and spread it to others.  

“He … really wants to lay out the path ahead,” Psaki told MSNBC. “He’s going to speak directly to vaccinated people and their frustration, and he wants them to hear how we’re going to build on what we’ve done to date to get the virus under control and to return to some version of normal in this country.”  

Biden also plans to require all federal workers to be fully vaccinated.  

Related: United States Surpasses 40 Million COVID-19 Cases