Biden says 'no time to waste' on COVID relief bill

Biden joined a meeting of the National Governor's Association on Thursday afternoon. During the meeting, the group's chair, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y., who has been under fire for nursing home deaths in his state and is facing fresh details concerning a harassment allegation, said the nation's governors support the president's COVID-19 relief bill.

Biden touted his plan, which has bipartisan support outside of the Senate, as helping all Americans. The president noted that 400 mayors have called him in support of the bill.

"It's clear that even when the immediate crisis passes, there’s going to be more work to be done to help constituents recover," Biden said. "And my administration will be there every step of the way with you, because when people in this country need help, they're not Democrats, Republicans, they're all Americans and people who need work."

Cuomo also said governors stand behind Biden's forthcoming infrastructure bill, which he has not yet released but touted on the campaign trail.

Biden delivered remarks announcing that the U.S. is "halfway" to his goal of administering 100 million vaccines in his first 100 days after he, Harris and Dr. Anthony Fauci, watched as four people received a COVID-19 vaccine.

"50 million shots in just 37 days since I’ve become president. That's weeks ahead of schedule, even with the setbacks we faced during the recent winter storms which devastated millions of Midwestern cities, towns, and also the same in the South," Biden said. "We're moving in the right direction, though, despite the mess we inherited from the previous administration."

Biden also worked to counter vaccine hesitancy, announcing that the administration is going to launch a "massive campaign" to educate Americans about the safety and efficacy of the vaccines.

"And there are folks who are hesitant to take the shot in the first place. We all know there is a history in this country of subjecting certain communities to terrible medical and scientific abuse," Biden said. "But if there is one message that needs to cut through, it's this: The vaccines are safe and effective"

Biden also pushed his COVID-19 relief bill, the American Rescue Act, and said he hopes Congress will pass it.

Despite the milestones that he touted, the president also offered a warning not to relax health measures.

"So I want to make something really very clear: this is not a time to relax," Biden said. "We must keep washing our hands, stay socially distanced, and for god's sake, wear a mask."

ABC News' Senior White House Correspondent Mary Bruce pressed White House press secretary Jen Psaki in a White House briefing Thursday about the president's plans to hold accountable those responsible for the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. 

Psaki wouldn’t offer specifics but didn’t rule out sanctions, saying “a range of actions” are on the table.

Psaki stressed that the next step is for Biden to have a call with the King of Saudi Arabia, Abdul Aziz, and for the intelligence community to release its full report of the events.

"And, of course, our administration is focused on recalibrating the relationship, as we've talked about in here previously, and certainly there are areas where we will express concerns and leave open the option of accountability," Psaki said.

Bruce also asked why the president would not speak directly with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, given not only his role in the future leadership of the country but also his reported involvement in the Khashoggi case.

Psaki pointed to bin Salman’s conversations with his counterpart, Secretary of Defense Llyod Austin, but did not say if Austin planned to discuss the issue with him directly.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle

Harris visited a pharmacy in a Giant supermarket in a predominantly minority neighborhood of Washington, D.C., on Thursday in an effort to ease vaccine hesitancy on the same day she and Biden will tout reaching the 50 million-shot marker, which is halfway to their 100 million shots in 100 days goal. But on the same day of Harris' visit, there were problems with the district's website to register for vaccine appointments.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the website issues were caused by a crush of demand after eligibility was expanded to include people with pre-existing conditions like severe obesity, asthma, liver disease and other conditions.

At the event, Harris spoke to Brenda Thompson, a D.C. resident who was about to receive her second dose, about her experience getting the Moderna vaccine, with Harris saying she needed to "take it a little slow" the day after her second dose.

Harris spoke with the store's pharmacist, Samir Balile, who told Harris he sees lines of people every day waiting for their shots, but he is concerned about hesitancy in the coming weeks.

Harris reported to him feeling some side effects after the second dose.

"The first dose, I was fine. The second dose, I thought I was fine, got up early in the morning, went to work, then midday I realized I might need to slow down a bit. Just that one day, and then it was fine, it was like nothing," Harris said.

-ABC News' Sarah Kolinovsky and John Parkinson