WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Tuesday set a new goal for the ongoing U.S. Covid-19 vaccination campaign: giving at least one shot to 70% of the adult population by July 4.
To reach that goal, Biden’s team said he will expand walk-up vaccinations at pharmacies and vaccination sites, open additional mobile vaccination units, and accelerate a public-relations campaign aimed at boosting vaccine confidence.
The announcement comes as the pace of the U.S. vaccination effort has nosedived. As of mid-April, the country was administering just under 3.4 million vaccine doses each day. As of Tuesday, the rate had dropped to just under 2.3 million.
Still, the country is currently on track to reach President Biden’s latest goal. Over 56% of adults 18 and over have already received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, according to federal data. That number represents roughly 145 million people; to reach the 70% threshold, about 36 million additional adults would need to receive a first dose in the next two months.
The White House, additionally, set a goal of giving a full vaccine regimen — either two doses each of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, or one dose of Johnson & Johnson’s — to 160 million Americans.
That benchmark, too, appears within reach. Currently, 105 million Americans have received a full course of vaccine doses, in addition to the 40 million who’ve only received one dose. During a press briefing, a senior Biden aide said the administration estimated that reaching each goal would require administering about another 100 million doses to adults in the next two months, roughly three-quarters of the current pace.
While the administration’s new goal focused on the adult population, administration officials also said they were prepared for the Food and Drug Administration’s expected extension of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine’s emergency use authorization for children between the ages of 12 and 15.
As part of their announcement, Biden aides also highlighted a number of funding opportunities aimed at bolstering vaccine access and confidence in local communities, part of a previously reported, $1.5 billion effort to encourage immunizations nationwide.
For the first time, the administration said it will send vaccines to rural health clinics and provide $100 million for those clinics to conduct vaccine outreach. It will also offer roughly $630 million in additional funding for local governments to step up outreach campaigns and hire community workers tasked with identifying and contacting people who haven’t yet been vaccinated, with a particular emphasis on people of color, people with disabilities, and those in rural areas.
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It should be pointed out, the variants which may cause new epidemics, essentially, were not kept out by adequate border controls.
Allowing international flyers to come in, and use an “honor system” for their self quarantine – NO actual enforcement- allowed the Brazilian and South African variants to get here. There is some kind of article of faith that travel controls are not worthwhile – it is obviously not true. No, I am not a virologist or epidemiologist – but actually isolating travelers would have stopped the foreign variants. We STILL do not do that.
I AGREE 100%
In my county, cases have been increasing, DESPITE widespread vaccination.
Although we are near Stanford University and they are typing to test for variant prevalence, they do not report the numbers.
We also have a much higher case fatality rate than before, in the past few months.
I believe we have a vaccine escaping variant which is also more lethal, and we are not being told.
When pressed about wearing a mask, after full vaccination, which Senator Rand Paul called “theater”, Dr. Fauci finally mentioned the variants as a reason for wearing masks.
I think this was an honest answer. Dr. Fauci is worried about the variants not being stopped by our vaccines. Perhaps this will not turn out to be the case, but I can not find any firm field data on efficacy of our vaccines against P1 or other variants. B1351 was mentioned as a big concern but data from Israel seems to indicate it is being stopped by BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine. But we need a lot more efficacy data, and, if the reason for continuing mask use is escape variants, the public needs to know.
Interesting, there are many others who predicted that once the experimental bioagent gene therapy injections rolled out, suddenly “variants” would be to blame. This in turn fear mongers more individuals into taking the shot. I would have called in conspiracy – if I didn’t see it all play all out before my eyes.
This was predicted MONTHS ago.
Fauci is NOT your friend. He does nothing for your well being. Same with Gates.
Couldn’t have happened without Operation Warp speed and Trump ordering millions of doses before Biden ever got in office
Credit should be given where due. Mr Trump’s administration did a spectacular job with Operation Warp Speed. They should be applauded for it. We would not have the vaccine available without them and we all owe them a great dept of gratitude for it.
But the subsequent following up to support the vaccine, Mr Trump’s doing anything at all to promote it, his showing even the most miniscule amount of confidence in it or support for it, or his doing anything whatsoever to get people to actually take the vaccine since it became available, has been non-existant, an utter failure in every way.
When a reporter asked if he would get the vaccine, instead of rising to the occasion and exuding the usual Trump confidence, he very unconfidently replied that he…uh…didn’t know. Um…maybe he would. Well…um…he certainly wasn’t in any rush. Now that’s a real confidence building reply, huh?
Every other president and first lady got their shots early, got them very publicly, got them with reporters covering it, all in order to show the American people their confidence in the vaccine and to promote it’s use.
Trump eventually did get around to getting his vaccination, but when he did, he did it quietly, practically in secret, with no fanfare, with no reporters and without even a press release to let anyone know it had happened–acting as though he had absolutely no confidence in it and was truly ashamed of even getting it.
His behavior has been 180 degrees the opposite of promoting it or building any amount of public confidence in it.
He seems to be doing everything in his power not to get people to take the vaccine.
Every living president, Republican or Democrat, has gladly done a public service announcement to promote the vaccine and explain that we need to all pitch in and get vaccinated to put our nation back on track and to return to normal life again–except for Mr Trump, who, by the way, has been asked repeatedly to do so, yet still hadn’t done it.
He even spoke on Fox News about bring asked to do it, and showed his complete lack of interest, even making light of the whole idea.
Every other president understands their responsibility to the country and enthusiastically promotes the vaccine, while the one man who is actually responsible for it, who should be loudly supporting it (after all, it is HIS baby), very strangely does the exact opposite.
This should be Mr Trump’s shining triumph of a moment and he does everything he can to prevent it from being so.
I simply don’t understand his behavior concerning this. It is nonsensical and counter to the country’s good–and to the good of his own legacy as well.
It is very disheartening.
Can anyone please explain it to me? I want to understand why he is behaving in this nationally–and personally–counter productive way.
I whole-heartedly agree with Bob above (or below)… Plus, I could not care less about which politician takes credit for the vaccines, but I do care about the scientists and technicians who developed the vaccines. They are the heroes, in my view.
Bob – you seek explanation of why Trump does not promote the vaccines he helped get developed : here is the answer: he is a real cowardly hypocrite. Bragged about being the healthiest president ever, then got Covid, was loaded with drugs, yanked off his masked in idiotic bravado – but got scared later and got secretively vaxxed. He is a nut-bar who should NEVER have been or be trusted to “lead” America. Please spare us all !
WHY IS IT THAT ALL YOU SEE IS THE GOOD COMMENTS WHY DON’T YOU EVER SHOW HOW MOST AMERICAN’S TRUELY FEEL AND THE TRUTH!
If they were up front about all aspects of the EXPERIMENTAL VACCINE, I would be more inclined to trust. Considering lack of honesty in Washington and with the MSM we are fools to trust one word they utter.
and without warp speed by the prior administration all of this would not be possible
I am not criticizing Biden, I do not know of anything he is doing wrong in terms of getting the vaccines available, but I think the other poster is correct, he needs to hold out some kind of reward to get some people to get shots. IMO – vaccine passports are a powerful motivator.
But I have to point out, he talked about a normal July 4 and if we do not get to at least 70% fully vaccinated BEFORE July 4th, they will likely say we do not have “herd immunity” and not allow mass gatherings. And they can’t stop you from having BBQ with your friends and family but they can stop mass events.
As for Biden continuing to wear masks? Is he OK? Or does he not believe the vaccines stop the variants? It does not make sense to me.
Or, maybe it is a new mentality – the young progressive people feel it is very important to signal virtue – maybe he just can not put that signal of virtue down. It is in line with the endless moralizing rhetoric.
Steve has a good idea in offering some sort of “reward/punishment” to those who are holding out on getting vaccinated. Heath care workers, especially hospital staff, need to be Covid-19 vaccinated as a term of employment.
This is a new disease, about which we are still learning. There are many unanswered questions about efficacy. The U.S. is not testing for variants as widely as necessary. Mask wearing is still necessary until we know more about the regional/local prevalence of variants, etc. It is quite possible that there are more variants arising as the virus mutates. This has nothing to do with “moralizing rhetoric”, and everything to do with staying safe.
Diane: Thanks for the Comment. I got off on a little rant – the endless moralizing is not about the masks, my gripe with the masks is they do not give a clear reason – if the are worried about the variants, we need to be told that. I mean, that is actually a moral responsibility to tell us if they get evidence a variant is here which our vaccines do not work against, because a person get’s vaccinated, believes he has 5% risk of getting sick, accepts that risk, but true risk is say 50% –
My moralizing rhetoric is about the youth who virtue symbol about everything -not really on point but my personal gripe.
I hope the vaccines work but so far I can not find hard data.
The money & rush to get vaccines out, but healthcare workers still lack PPE. In some places infection control is a joke, on covid units. I have never had covid and don’t plan on getting the experimental gene therapy
The White House is setting easily achievable goals that they can later claim “they” beat. And the real joke of it all is they have very little role in whether it’s achieved. Successful vaccination of the American Public comes down to: a) supply by manufacturers, b) Vaccinations by the States, and c) a willing public. Maybe people would be more interested in getting vaccinations if: a) the Government didn’t taint the J&J vaccine for a ridiculously small number of adverse reactions and b) the President demonstrated a bit of return to post vaccine normalcy. Instead, he hides behind a mask contrary to CDC guidelines.
It wasn’t the government that tainted the J&J vaccine. It was the MSM!!