On 20 January, Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th US president. He wasted little time before undoing policies that were anathema to Democrats; he signed 15 executive orders and two other directives, including an order requiring face masks and social distancing on federal property. This was followed by an order recommitting the United States to the Paris Agreement on climate change. With plain language and open emotion, Biden urged a shaken nation to regain its footing. He has directed the government to rejoin the World Health Organisation and intends to join the COVAX Facility, a project to deploy Covid-19 vaccines to people in need around the world (whether in rich or poor countries); it is an umbrella effort that focuses on distributing diagnostic tools and therapeutics for coronavirus to countries around the world. The justice department pledged to keep the Capitol safe through the next few days.