Biden’s 100-day vaccine goal was met almost before it arrived

Photographer: Bing Guan / Bloomberg

The United States is close to administering Covid-19 vaccines at a rate of one million doses per day, suggesting that the goal of 100 million doses in 100 days of Biden administration may be a modest aspiration.

The week Biden was sworn in as president, an average of about 983,000 shots were fired a day during the seven days that ended Friday, according to data from Bloomberg vaccine follower. In the last three days they exceeded one million doses.

Biden’s goal, essentially, is not to back down. He made it a topic of his presidential campaign to criticize the previous administration’s handling of the pandemic, including the deployment of vaccines that fell far short of President Donald Trump’s promises. At the current rate of approximately one million shots a day, it would take nearly 18 months to vaccinate 80% of the American population.

“God willing, we’re not just going to make 100 million, we’re going to do more than that,” Biden said Friday at the White House.

Biden’s goal of millions of shots a day is wasted

Nearly 983,000 doses a day were administered the week he took the oath

Source: Bloomberg Covid-19 vaccine locator

Anthony Fauci, Biden’s chief medical adviser, said on Thursday that vaccinating 70% to 85% of the country by the end of the summer would allow it to return to normal. To do so would mean administering 460 to 560 million doses, as current vaccines require a first vaccine followed by a booster. This is more than double the Biden rate 100 day goal.

Biden is “considering everything that could go right, and also what could go wrong, and is making a measured decision about what goal we should achieve,” said Vivek Murthy, Biden’s choice for U.S. surgeon general. . “But don’t be fooled, their goal is not only to fulfill it, but to overcome it. But we have to get rid of the stops. “

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday insisted on the 100 million-dose target, which explained the administration’s mathematical thinking. He said that under Trump, 17 million doses had been administered in the first 38 days, for an average rate of less than 500,000 a day, and Biden’s team hoped to double that.

Bloomberg data shows that the rate has risen substantially since the first weeks of launch. A more ambitious plan would be to double the current vaccination rate, not the average rate during the first phase of vaccine distribution. That’s why some Republicans have asked.

“The United States is already on its way for 100 million in 100 days,” said Steve Scalise, the House’s No. 2 Republican leader. he said on Twitter. “Biden could make 200 million in 100 days. Republicans would support it. Thanks to Trump, he’s halfway there. ”

60.3 million shots worldwide: Bloomberg vaccine locator

In the early days of the vaccination campaign, doses were being administered slowly. At the time Biden took office, the federal government was making more than 8 million doses a week available through its distribution program, according to Department of Health and Human Services allocation figures. The shots go in his arms almost as fast.

These figures include the first and second doses of vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and Modern Inc. In total, the United States has made available 65 million doses that can be ordered by the end of January and will be shipped over the next few weeks. Of those, nearly 40 million have already been shipped, according to the CDC.

The United States spent more than any country in the world to help accelerate the development and deployment of vaccines. He secured more than a billion doses to six companies before any of the shots were approved. Despite all the criticism that has been leveled at early vaccine launch disorders, the United States continues to lead the world in administered traits and is the fifth largest in the world per capita.

USA ranks fifth in shots per capita

The Trump administration also set ambitious goals, with the goal of having hundreds of millions of doses available by the end of 2020 and following a rapid pace of vaccinations. He reduced those goals after not having as many vaccines available as he expected.

“They don’t achieve one hundred percent of the goals you don’t set,” Trump administration health secretary Alex Azar said in an interview last month. He said the administration’s revised goals for 2021 were to ensure there were enough vaccines available for all Americans who wanted them.

The accelerated vaccination campaign is not without its problems. States have said they have little long-term visibility into the supply being offered to them and that there can be significant delays between when the CDC says doses are shipped and when they actually arrive. States like West Virginia and North Dakota operate on thin vaccine supply cushions, as they have consumed more than 70% of the shots sent to them.

“It simply came to our notice then. We will tackle them and meet our bold 100-meter shooting goal in 100 days, ”said Ron Klain, Biden’s chief of staff. he said on Twitter Friday morning. “It will not be easy, smooth or without setbacks. But we will get it. “

New vaccines will arrive

Vaccine supply and the pace of vaccinations could accelerate rapidly when new vaccines for use are eliminated. A Johnson & Johnson vaccine has enough data to start analyzing it now and could have results in a week or two, Fauci said so this week. The Food and Drug Administration has moved in a few days to authorize the request for vaccines based on the first results.