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The Biden administration admitted that the U.S. president’s goal of vaccinating 70 percent of American adults by July 4 would be missing, and defined it as an “aspirational goal.”
Jeffrey Zients, Covid-19 White House response coordinator, said 70% of Americans over the age of 30 had received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine. However, he said it would take “a few extra weeks” to reach Joe Biden’s goal of distributing at least 70% of all adults by July 4th.
Biden set the target early last month, but the country’s vaccine launch has slowed after a start of strong efforts as health officials fight vacant vacancy.
“We have achieved beyond our highest expectations,” Zients said at a news conference Tuesday. “Instead of holding small gatherings in the back garden, America is preparing for a truly historic quarter of July with big celebrations across the country.”
Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have already achieved the president’s goal. Among American adults over the age of 18, 65% have received at least one dose of vaccine, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 150 million Americans are completely vaccinated.
After targeting seniors and essential workers in the first wave of vaccinations, the focus has been on vaccinating young adults, who Zients said “have felt that Covid-19 is not something that affects them.” He said “the country has more work to do” to encourage vaccination among people aged 18 to 26.
The Biden administration now expects 70 percent of Americans over the age of 27 to be immunized by the end of the July 4 weekend, Zients said, adding that Biden’s second goal of reaching 160 millions of fully vaccinated adults would be met “no later than mid-July.”
State officials across the country have created innovative campaigns to encourage the uptake of vaccines, such as offering free beer and firearms, as well as multi-million dollar raffles, but the speed of the vaccination program has changed in recent weeks.
The need to inoculate values has taken on a new urgency as the Delta variant, which first emerged in India, is spreading across the United States. Has swept across the UK and has been accused of increasing cases in other parts of the world.
Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned of Delta’s threat to the recovery of the U.S. and unvaccinated people, saying that “its transmissibility is certainly more large ”than the original Covid-19 strain and the Alpha variant that was first detected in the UK.
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