WASHINGTON (AP) – The US will meet President Joe Biden’s latest vaccination target of administering 200 million coronavirus shots in its first 100 days in office, as the White House ramps up its efforts to inoculate the rest of the public.
With more than 50% of adults at least partially vaccinatedOn 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 now that all those 16 and older are eligible for shots, the president is expected to outline his government’s plans to boost vaccination coverage even further.
With about 28 million doses of vaccine administered each week, demand has eclipsed supply as the limiting factor for vaccinations in much of the country. While surveys have shown that hesitancy to vaccinate vaccines has diminished since the injections rollout, 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 the appearance of normalcy around the July 4 holiday and even more so by the start of the next school year.
Biden was not expected to set new public targets for vaccinations, and government officials have carefully predicted when the country will have enough people vaccinated to achieve immunity to herds.. The US is on track to have enough vaccinations for every adult by the end of May and for every American by July, but administering the injections will be a different matter.
In recent weeks, the White House has launched a large-scale outreach campaign to Americans to get vaccinated, depending on funding from the $ 1.9 trillion virus control package past last month to launch ads and fund direct community engagement to inadequately vaccinated constituencies.
Biden set his goal of 200 million shots last month after reaching his goal of 100 million in 100 days just over a month ago. At the time, the US was well on track to meet the higher goal, and the pace of vaccinations has only accelerated to about 3 million injections per day.
The goal of 100 million doses was first announced on Dec. 8, days before the US had even one authorized vaccine for COVID-19, let alone the three that have now received an emergency permit. Still, it was generally seen within reach, albeit optimistic.
By the time Biden was inaugurated on January 20, the US had already delivered 20 million shots at the rate of about 1 million a day, sparking complaints when Biden’s goal was not ambitious enough. Biden quickly revised it to 150 million doses in its first 100 days.
It was a deliberate attempt by Biden to establish clear – and attainable – measures of success as part of a strategy of under-promises and then over-performance. Aides believe that exceeding his goals builds confidence in the government after the Trump administration’s sometimes fanciful rhetoric about the virus..