President Biden announces he's moving deadline for all US adults to be eligible for COVID-19 vaccine
President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he is moving up his deadline for states to make all American adults eligible for a coronavirus vaccine by almost two weeks.
With all states having opened eligibility to the public or at least having announced when they plan to do so, Biden announced that every adult in the country will be eligible to be vaccinated by April 19, instead of his original deadline of May 1.
Biden announced last week that 90% of adults will be eligible to get a coronavirus vaccine by April 19, as well as have a vaccination site within five miles of where they live. Biden said the number of pharmacies participating in the federal pharmacy vaccination program was increasing from the current 17,000 locations to 40,000.
have announced when they plan to open vaccinations to everyone who is eligible if they haven't done so already. Oregon, South Dakota, Nebraska, Hawaii and New Jersey all currently plan to open eligibility by May 1, so it remains to be seen how Biden's announcement changes those states' plans.
On Tuesday, the president visited a vaccination site in Alexandria, Virginia.
The U.S. reported more than 4 million doses of coronavirus vaccine administered in a single 24-hour period last weekend. That record came at the same time federal officials put Johnson & Johnson officials in charge of a Baltimore facility and stopped it from making another vaccine by AstraZeneca after an ingredient error ruined potentially 15 million one-shot doses.
As other nations clamor for more shots, including from the U.S., Biden also said Tuesday that the U.S. has administered 150 million shots. the U.S. had administered more than 165 million doses as of Monday night, with China in second having administered a little less than 140 million shots.
The administration notes that more than 75% of people over the age of 65 have gotten a shot and over 55% of them are fully vaccinated, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 鈥� a number that was at 8% when Biden took office.