Covid-19 update: Biden doubles vaccination goals

About half of U.S. states will open up their vaccination efforts to all adults by mid-April, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said on Friday.

14 states have already opened up legibility to all adults or will do so within the next week, 12 additional states will open up edibility by April 15. In all, 46 states and the District of Columbia have already pledged to meet President Joe Biden’s goal of having all Americans eligible for a vaccine by May 1, Zients said.

In response, President Biden announced on Thursday, a new goal of administering 200 million COVID vaccine shots in his first 100 days in office. That’s double his initial goal of 100 million doses.  The U.S. is currently averaging about 2.5 million doses being administered per day.

Meanwhile, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the CDC, on Friday said she was “deeply concerned” about the trajectory of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. The most recent seven-day average of new cases was up by about 7% from the prior week, while hospitalizations have increased slightly and deaths have hovered.

Tanvi Sabharwal

Tanvi Sabharwal is a graduate in Economics with experience in marketing and strategy. A media enthusiast, she has a deep-rooted interest in social policy and development. Tanvi is currently working as a Business and Current Affairs reporter at USAnewshour.com and can be reached at tanvi.sabharwal21@gmail.com