© The Associated PressThe Associated Press
President Joe Biden on Tuesday will announce a new goal: At least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine administered to 70% of U.S. adults by July 4.
Over 56% of U.S. adults have had at least one shot as of Monday, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Biden will also say on Tuesday that he wants to see 160 million Americans fully vaccinated by Independence Day, a senior administration official said on a call with reporters.
"This means close to 100 million additional shots in arms over the next 60 days," one official said.
The rate of vaccinations has slowed in the U.S. over the past few weeks, going from a seven-day average peak of over 3.2 million doses administered daily in mid-April to roughly 2.3 million daily shots in late April.
"Myself and many of my colleagues in the public health field and infectious disease experts feel very confident that communities that can achieve 70% vaccination rate will, in fact, see a sharp decline in individual cases, which will lead ultimately to a decline in hospitalizations, which as we know from our experience will ultimately, obviously, lead to a diminution in the number of deaths," another senior administration official said on the call with reporters.
But reaching the 70% goal "does not necessarily mean we've reached what people are referring to as herd immunity," the official added.
Video: A Federal Report Found Coronavirus Test Shortages at U.S. Hospitals. Trump Attacked the Author (Time)
A Federal Report Found Coronavirus Test Shortages at U.S. Hospitals. Trump Attacked the Author
![UP NEXT]()
UP NEXT
"You have public health measures and you have vaccination," the official said. "The more you vaccinate people, the more you can pull back on some of the public health restrictions, and that really is our goal and the goal of the president, to get people vaccinated as quickly as we possibly can with the goal of 70% by the Fourth of July."
Biden has repeatedly said he wants the U.S. to look more "normal" by the Fourth of July.
To increase accessibility to vaccines, Biden will be "directing tens of thousands of pharmacies in the federal pharmacy program to offer walk-in appointments; redirecting Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) resources to support more pop-up clinics, smaller community vaccination sites, and more mobile clinics; shipping new allocations of the vaccine to rural health clinics across the country; and providing additional funding to help communities do outreach and engagement to help get people vaccinated," according to a fact sheet from the administration.
Officials also confirmed reports that the Biden administration will change the vaccine ordering process to states to account for falling demand in some parts of the country.
The new process will allow states to order less than their weekly allocation, which is based on population. Whatever doses states decline will go into a pool that other states with higher demand can tap into.
"I want to emphasize that this is completely up to the individual state as to whether they want to order 100% each week, and that, in turn, would then be delivered to the state and then it resets each week," an official said.
Meanwhile, the administration is planning for the Food and Drug Administration's upcoming decision on expanding the emergency use authorization for the Pfizer vaccine to adolescents aged 12-15.
"In his remarks today, the president will share that, if the FDA does issue an EUA, about half of the federal pharmacy program will be ready to vaccinate 12-to-15-year-olds," an official said.
Copyright 2021 U.S. News & World Report