President Joe Biden says he predicts coronavirus vaccines will be available to anyone in the country before spring, an ambitious goal that can only be achieved with sharp increases in the current rate of inoculations.
The United States currently administers about 1.2 million shots a day, according to data collected by Bloomberg, and Biden said Monday it expects it to reach 1.5 million doses soon. He said the administration has “commitments from some of the producers that will produce more vaccines,” though he did not say which companies.
Despite increasing, the current pace threatens to stretch vaccines by 2022, because the first two vaccines approved require two doses. Biden, asked when someone who wants the shot will be able to get it, said he believes this is possible in the spring, while “increasing access” during the summer.
“It will be a logistical challenge that goes beyond anything we’ve ever tried in this country, but I think we can do it,” Biden said Monday, in statements to reporters after an announcement at a building adjacent to the White House.
“Jo feel confident that in the summer we will be well on our way to herd immunity and increase access to people who are not at the top of the list, Biden said. “But I feel well where we are going and I think we can get it. “
Biden said he is “optimistic” that there will be enough vaccine as well as enough people and supplies to administer them. Again he encouraged Americans to wear masks to curb the explosion.
“It’s starting to move, but I’m sure we’ll get over that,” he said. “But we will talk about it in the summer. We will still address this issue in early autumn. “
One of Biden’s top coronavirus advisers said it would be the third or fourth quarter of the year by the time the vaccine supply is captured. Until demand.
“I think we’ll get into the third or fourth quarter until we get to the point where everyone wants to get vaccinated,” David Kessler, one of the officials leading Covid’s response to Biden, told SiriusXM’s “Doctor Radio Reports,” by Marc Siegel. “But this is a complete judicial press. If we can do better, we will do it ”.
The United States recorded 133,000 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, one of the lowest totals in months, as case loads have fallen from record highs earlier this month. Still, mortality rates are a lagging indicator and remain high, including 1,814 on Sunday and 420,000 overall so far in the U.S.
New strains threaten to cause new outbreaks. The White House announced earlier Monday that it is restricting travel from South Africa, where a new strain seems particularly worrisome and would require a negative test for any air traveler embarking on a flight to the United States from abroad.
Biden renewed his call to Congress to approve a new coronavirus aid package. “Time is of the essence,” he said. “We can’t afford not to invest now.”