WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. will meet President Joe Biden’s latest vaccine goal: administer 200 million coronavirus shots in his first 100 days in office, while the White House intensifies its efforts to inoculate the rest of the public.
With more than 50% of adults vaccinated at least partiallyOn Wednesday, Biden will reflect on his efforts to expand the distribution and access of vaccines in his first three months at the White House. But with all those 16 and older eligible to be shot, the president is expected to explain his administration’s plans to further increase the vaccination rate.
With approximately 28 million doses of vaccine delivered each week, demand has overshadowed supply as a factor restricting vaccinations in much of the country. Although polls have shown that vaccination has been declining since the shots were fired, administration officials believe they should make vaccination easier and more attractive.
Maximizing the number of Americans vaccinated in the coming months is critical to the White House, which aims to restore an appearance of normalcy around the July quarter holidays and even more so early in the next school year.
Biden was not expected to set new public targets for vaccinations, and government officials have been careful not to predict when the country will vaccinate enough people to achieve herd immunity.. The United States is on track to have enough vaccine supply for all adults by the end of May and for all Americans by July, but administering the vaccines will be something else.
In recent weeks, the White House has launched a mass outreach campaign Americans to get vaccinated, depending on funding for the $ 1.9 trillion virus relief package was approved last month to launch ads and fund direct community participation in poorly vaccinated constituencies.
Biden set the target of 200 million shots last month after reaching his 100 million in 100 days just over a month ago. At the time, the United States had a good pace to reach the highest goal and the pace of vaccinations has only accelerated, to about 3 million shots a day.
The 100 million dose target was first announced on December 8, days before the United States even had an authorized vaccine against COVID-19, let alone the three that have now received authorization. emergency. Still, it was generally within reach, though optimistic.
When Biden opened on January 20, the United States had already managed 20 million shots at a rate of 1 million a day, and they complained at the time that Biden’s goal was not ambitious enough. Biden quickly reviewed it at 150 million doses in its first 100 days.
It was a deliberate effort by Biden to establish clear (and achievable) metrics for success as part of an unpromising and then overprinting strategy. Aides believe that exceeding their targets builds confidence in the government after the Trump administration’s sometimes fantastic rhetoric about the virus.