MONDAY, March 22, 2021 (HealthDay News) — President Joe Biden’s promise of 100 million vaccinations in the first 100 days of his administration was met Friday, more than 40 days ahead of schedule.
“I’m proud to announce that tomorrow, 58 days into our administration, we will have met our goal,” Biden said Thursday during a speech on the state of the country’s vaccination campaign. He added that he would unveil a new vaccination target next week, with the United States expecting to have enough of the three currently authorized vaccines to cover the entire adult population by May 1, the Associated Press reported.
The 100 million-dose goal was first announced on Dec. 8, days before the United States had even one authorized vaccine for COVID-19, let alone three. By the time Biden was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 20 million shots had been given at a rate of about 1 million per day, the AP reported. Now, an average of about 2.2 million doses each day are going into the arms of Americans. That pace will likely jump later this month with an expected surge in vaccine supply.
Biden has moved to speed deliveries of vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson, as well as to expand the number of places to get shots and people who can administer them, the AP reported. As of Monday, 81.4 million Americans had received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 44.1 million had gotten their second shot.
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