White House COVID czar says virus is here 'forever' after Biden vowed to 'shut down' pandemic during election

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White House COVID czar Dr. Ashish Jha offered a blunt admission that seems to undercut one of President Biden's most prominent campaign promises during the 2020 election cycle. 

Jha has made back-to-back appearances at the press briefings this week after President Biden tested positive for COVID, providing updates about his recovery alongside White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. 

On Friday, while promoting vaccinations to curb serious illness amid the spike in COVID cases, Jha warned reporters that the virus is not going away. 

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WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 22: (L-R) White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and COVID-19 Response Coordinator Ashish Jha speak to reporters during a press briefing at the White House July 22, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

"This virus is going to be with us forever," Jha said. "It's really, really important that people build up their immunity against this virus."

"Getting vaccinated is one of the best ways that people have to protect themselves," he later added.

The White House's messaging flies in the face of what Biden promised to the American people during the 2020 presidential election. 

"I'll put in place a plan to deal with this pandemic responsibly. I've already done it! And bring this country together around testing, tracing, and masking," Biden said at a rally in October 2020. "I'm not going to shut down the economy. I'm not going to shut down the country, but I'm going to shut down the virus."

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The coronavirus pandemic became a central issue on the campaign trail with Biden and his supporters slamming then-President Trump for not taking the virus seriously early on. Trump and his defenders boasted Operation Warp Speed, which resulted in three different COVID vaccines, which were announced just days after the presidential election. 

U.S. President Donald Trump answers a question as Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden listens during the final presidential debate at the Curb Event Center at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., October 22, 2020. Morry Gash/Pool via REUTERS  REFILE - CORRECTING BYLINE (Morry Gash/Pool via REUTERS)

During the election, however, Biden cited the 220,000 U.S. death toll from the pandemic to attack Trump, saying, "Anyone who is responsible for that many deaths should not remain as President of the United States of America."

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Since then, the death toll has surpassed 1 million, the vast majority of them occurring during the Biden presidency.