Biden says COVID-19 vaccine should not be obligatory

Americans should not be required to take the COVID-19 vaccine, Joe Biden said.

"I don't think it should be mandatory. I wouldn't demand it to be mandatory," he said Thursday at a news conference, according to The Hill. "Just like I don't think masks have to be made mandatory nationwide."

"I'll do everything in my power as president of the United States to encourage people to do the right thing and when they do it, demonstrate that it matters," Biden said, according to the outlet.

The Biden-Harris transition website says that Biden will keep calling for people to wear masks when they are near individuals "outside their household," and for governors and local leaders to mandate this rule.

During an interview with CNN on Thursday, Biden noted that it is important that the president and vice president use masks to set an example.

"But beyond that where the federal government has authority I'm gonna issue a standing order that in federal buildings you have to be masked," he said, "in transportation, interstate transportation you must be masked in airplanes and buses, etcetera."

During that interview he indicated that he will ask Americans to wear masks for 100 days. "And I think my inclination Jake is in the first day I'm inaugurated to say I'm gonna ask the public for 100 days to mask," Biden said. "Just 100 days to mask. Not forever, 100 days."

According to Johns Hopkins University, there have been more than 14.5 million COVID-19 cases in the U.S. and more than 281,000 deaths.