- White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki went on Fox News Thursday morning.
- Psaki emphasized that "we don't want to live like this" approaching year three of the pandemic.
- "We want to get back to a point where we're not wearing masks, of course," she said.
In a Fox News appearance Thursday morning, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said she shares the nation's frustrations with the COVID-19 pandemic dragging on into 2022.
"We don't want to live like this," Psaki said. "You heard the president say we don't want to live like this forever. We want to get back to a point where we're not wearing masks, of course."
—Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 20, 2022
Psaki appearing in front of a more conservative audience is part of a broader push by the White House to send out officials to do more interviews following President Joe Biden's marathon press conference on Wednesday. Administration officials are planned to sit for 70 interviews with national and local outlets this week, according to Punchbowl News.
Co-host Dana Perino asked Psaki if she can envision "an off-ramp" from pandemic interventions in day-to-day life, such as mask wearing and vaccine passports, "particularly for those, the unvaccinated."
"Because a lot of unvaccinated feel like they're being scapegoats and second-class citizens — even though I want people to be vaccinated so they're protected," Perino added.
Psaki touted the US reaching a fully vaccinated rate of 75% among adults before going into her "we don't want to live like this" comments.
When asked by Perino if the US can expect an announcement similar to that of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson — who promised guidance on masking and and the country's vaccine passport system will end later this month — Psaki deflected and said she can't make that promise on behalf of Biden.
"What we're trying to do is continue to fight at the height of a pandemic to get to that point," Psaki said.