300 million vaccine shots administered in US IN 150 days – Biden

PRESIDENT Joe Biden is marking another milestone in his quest to bring the COVID-19 pandemic under control.

Biden announced Friday that 300 million COVID-19 vaccine shots have been administered in the 150 days since he took office. Biden is crediting scientists, companies, the American people and his whole-of-government effort.

The president noted that 65 per cent of adults have received at least one shot, setting the stage for most Americans to have a relatively normal summer as businesses reopen and employers hire.

 “We’re heading into a very different summer compared to last year,” the president said. “A bright summer. Prayerfully, a summer of joy.”

But as Biden marks one milestone, he is in danger of failing to meet another: his target to have 70% of American adults at least partially vaccinated by the fourth of July, in a little over two weeks.

Overall, about 168 million American adults, or 65.1 per cent of the U.S. population 18 years and older, have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Friday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The pace of new vaccinations in the U.S. has dropped significantly from a high of nearly 2 million per day about two months ago, jeopardizing Biden’s ability to hit the 70 per cent mark.

CDC Director, Rochelle Walensky said Friday that she expected the delta variant of the coronavirus would become the dominant strain in the U.S. That strain has become dominant in Britain after it was first detected in India.

During an appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” she told Americans who get their shots that “you’ll be protected against this delta variant.”

As part of the administration’s vaccination push, Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Atlanta on Friday to tour a pop-up COVID-19 vaccination site at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a pastor until his assassination in 1968. The current senior pastor is U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock.

Despite that achievement, Biden is in danger of failing to meet his target of having 70 per cent of Americans at least partially vaccinated by July Fourth.