LINCOLN- Gov. Pete Ricketts said Friday that President Joe Biden “struck the right tone” in expressing empathy for those lost in the COVID-19 pandemic but that he may not recognize that states including Nebraska have begun allowing small family groups to gather and having kids in classrooms.

“States like Nebraska are doing the things he’s saying already,” the Republican governor said.

Biden, in an address to the nation Thursday night marking the one-year anniversary of the pandemic, set a goal of making shots available to all U.S. adults by May 1, and making July Fourth an “independence day” from the virus, allowing small groups of vaccinated people to gather. The Democrat also called for a summit on reopening schools.

It’s frustrating, Ricketts said, that the White House doesn’t realize that states are at different stages in their fight against the pandemic. Meanwhile, two of the state’s leading pandemic authorities said federal, state and local leaders — including the governor — need to ramp up their messaging to prevent another surge in COVID-19 cases and overcome the reluctance of many to get vaccinated.

“There should be PSAs (public service announcements) blanketing the airways,” said Dr. James Lawler of the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

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