The 100-day goal of Biden’s vaccine was almost met before it was reached

Photographer: Bing Guan / Bloomberg

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

In the week that Biden was sworn in as president, nearly 983,000 fires a day were averaged over the seven days ending Friday, according to data from Bloomberg’s Vaccine Tracker. The last three days have exceeded one million doses.

Biden’s goal, in essence, is not to roll back. He made this a theme of his presidential campaign to criticize the way the previous administration handled the pandemic – including the launch of the vaccine that was far from the promises of then-President Donald Trump. At the current rate of about 1 million photos a day, it would take almost 18 months to vaccinate 80% of the US population.

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

Biden’s goal of millions of hits a day overwhelms him

Nearly 983,000 doses a day were given in the week he swore

Source: Covid-19 Vaccine Tracker from Bloomberg

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. Doing so would mean administering 460 million to 560 million doses, as current vaccines require a first injection followed by a booster. This is more than double Biden’s rate 100 day goal.

Biden “considers everything that could go well – and also what could go wrong – and makes a measured decision about what target we should go for,” said Vivek Murthy, Biden’s choice. for the American surgeon general. “But make no mistake, its purpose is not only to accomplish this, but to overcome it. But we have to stop. “

Pressed on the 100 million dose target on Thursday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki explained the math behind the administration’s thinking. She said that under Trump, 17 million doses were given 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 show that the rate has increased substantially since the first weeks of launch. A more ambitious plan would be to double the current vaccination rate – not the average rate in the early stages of vaccine distribution. That’s what some Republicans have asked for.

“America is already on the right track for 100 million in 100 days,” said Republican leader Steve Scalise. he said on Twitter. “Biden could make 200 million in 100 days. Republicans would support him. Thanks to Trump, he’s already halfway there. ”

60.3 million photos worldwide: tracking the Bloomberg vaccine

In the early days of the vaccination campaign, doses were administered in a small flow. By the time Biden took office, the federal government was providing more than 8 million doses a week through its distribution program, according to allocation figures from the Department of Health and Human Services. Images go to arms almost as fast.

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

The United States has spent more than any country in the world to help accelerate the development and implementation of vaccines. He delivered more than 1 billion doses from six companies before any of the photos were approved. For all the criticism that has been directed at the first drops in vaccine launches, the US still leads the world in administered blows and is the fifth in the world on a per capita basis.

The US ranks fifth in photos per capita

The Trump administration has also set ambitious goals, aiming to have hundreds of millions of doses available by the end of 2020 and to follow a rapid pace of vaccinations. He reduced these targets after not having as many vaccines available as he hoped.

“You fail to reach one hundred percent of the goals you did not set,” Trump administration health secretary Alex Azar said in an interview last month. He said the administration’s revised goals for 2021 were to make sure enough vaccines were available for every American who wanted one.

The accelerated vaccination campaign is not without its problems. States have stated that they have a low long-term visibility of the supply they are offered and that there may be significant delays between when the CDC says the doses are shipped and when they actually arrive. States such as West Virginia and North Dakota are running on thin vaccine supply pillows, after consuming more than 70% of the photos sent to them.

“It simply came to our notice then. We will address them and achieve our bold goal of 100 photos 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. ”

New vaccines

The supply of vaccines and the pace of vaccinations can be accelerated quickly when new photos are removed for use. A Johnson & Johnson vaccine has enough data to start testing now and could have results in a week or two, Fauci said this week. The Food and Drug Administration moved in a few days to authorize the application of vaccines based on early results.