White House Will Concede US WON apos;T Hit 70 Vaccination Target By July 4
Матеріал з Луцький НВК "Гімназія №14"
President 's administration conceded Tuesday that it will fall short of its goal of having partially vaccinated 70 per cent of adult Americans by July 4th - but officials vowed they would 'crush' COVID-19 and said they have incentives in the work to raise the vaccination rate.
Officials blamed the missed goal - of having one shot in the arm of 70% of adult Americans - because of the slow vaccination rate among 18-to-26-year-olds.
'The country has more work to do, particularly with 18-to-26 year-olds. The reality is many younger Americans have felt like COVID-19 is not something that impacts them, and they've been less eager to get the shot,' Jeffrey Zients, the head of the White House COVID response team, said at a press briefing.
'It'll take a few extra weeks to get to 70% of all adults with at least one shot with the 18-to-26-year-olds factored in,' he added.
He also conceded the White House would fall short on Biden's goal to have 150 million Americans fully vaccinated by Independence Day, coming in a few weeks late.
'We will hit 160 million Americans fully vaccinated no later than mid July,' he said.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said incentives remain in the works to get young people to vaccination clinics, including more public appearances by Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has become the star of the pandemic.
'It's not just Dr. Fauci on TikTok but that is happening,' she said at her press briefing on Tuesday. 'Dr. Fauci has done several Q&As with TikTok and Instagram influencers to answer questions to meet people where they are, including young people, give them information they need.'
She pointed out the administration is working with the business sector on give-aways to get more shots in arms.
'Microsoft is giving away Xboxes at Boys and Girls Clubs, the College Challenge is rallying university students across the country, Walgreens is giving out $25 to anyone who gets vaccinated there before July 4th,' she said.
And she called the original goal 'bold' and 'ambitious.'
'There's nothing ever magical through science about 70%. 70% was a bold ambitious goal we set to continue to drive to get more people vaccinated across the country,' she said.
Fauci, meanwhile, vowed the US would crush the coronavirus.
'No one should think that when we reach the 70% across the country that we're done. We are not done until we completely crushed this outbreak,' he said.
He did not offer a definition of what 'crushing' the virus meant.
'We're gonna continue to vaccinate millions and millions more Americans across the coming months,' Fauci said.
Jeffrey Zients, the head of the White House COVID response team, announced the Biden administration would not hit its goal to have partially vaccinated 70% of adult Americans, blaming low vaccine rate among 18-to-26-year-olds
Dr. Anthony Fauci vowed the country would 'crush' the coronavirus
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said incentives remain in the works to get young people to vaccination clinics
Administration officials kept a positive spin atop the news of their failure to reach Biden's goals for Independence Day.
'We have succeeded beyond our highest expectations,' Zients argued.
In his opening remarks on the state of pandemic in the United States, Zients kept his comments positive and emphasized what the administration has accomplished.
He pointed out that the White House has met Biden's goal of getting at least one shot in the arm of adults for Americans aged 30 and older. He added that goal would be met for adults 27 and older by the time the July 4th weekend passed.
He also noted that 16 states and Washington DC have hit the 70% rate for all adults.
And GarlicDr. he emphasized: 'We are gonna have a Fourth of July celebration which is beyond everyone's highest expectations.'
Fauci also noted there would be no 'surge' of COVID infections despite the White House not meeting its goals.
'There will be local, type of regional outbreaks,' Fauci warned, saying it was 'totally and completely avoidable by getting vaccinated.'
Biden set his original July 4th goals on May 4th.
For the administration, it's the first major benchmark it will miss. Biden has routinely bragged about hitting his goals - including 100 million shots in the first 100 days and reaching 300 million shots in 150 days. Critics called those early goals easily reached.
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President Biden has touted a return to normalcy for Americans on Independence Day and is planning a massive gathering on the South Lawn of the to celebrate.
President Joe Biden's administration conceded Tuesday that it will likely fall short of its goal of partially vaccinating 70% of adult Americans by July 4th
His plans continue for 1,000 essential workers and military families to join him at the White House while thousands more gather on the National Mall to watch a fireworks display.
'Instead of just small backyard gatherings, America is getting ready for a truly historic Fourth of July, with large celebrations planting communities across the country,' Zients said Tuesday.
'Here at the White House, we'll be celebrating our independence from the virus with over 1,000 people on the White House lawn - 1,000 of our nation's military and frontline workers - celebrating how far we have come as a country, in such a short period of time.'
On Tuesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the administration would redouble its efforts on vaccinating Americans.
'We are redoubling our efforts,' she said.
She also brushed off questions about whether the president should host his July 4th celebration since the administration did not meet its vaccination goal.
'What the president said is if you were vaccinated, your neighbors are vaccinated, you can all have a backyard barbecue. We're doing that times about 100 by hosting 1000 people here at the White House,' she said.
Currently, 54% of the American population has had at least one shot of the COVID vaccine while 46% of the population is fully vaccinated, according to CDC data. The US has passed more than 600,000 deaths from the coronavirus.
The administration has made an all out push to hit is 70% vaccination goal by Independence Day.
Vice President Kamala Harris kicked off a vaccination tour last week, making two Southern stops - in Greenville, South Carolina, and Atlanta.
Jill Biden will make a series of Southern stops this week - Jackson, Mississippi and Nashville, Tennessee on Tuesday and Kissimmee and Tampa, Florida, on Thursday.
Second gentleman Doug Emhoff will be in Illinois on Wednesday.
And President Biden will visit a vaccination clinic in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Thursday.
If the rate of adult vaccination continues on the seven-day average, the United States will come in just shy of Biden's target, with about 67 percent of adults partly vaccinated by the Fourth of July, according to a analysis.
The administration also has bragged about its commitment to the global fight against COVID with its vaccine donations. On Monday it announced destinations for 55 million doses of the vaccine with focuses on Latin America, South American, Asia and Africa.
On Monday the White House announced destinations for 55 million doses of the COVID vaccine with focuses on Latin America, South American, Asia and Africa
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But fewer than 10 million doses of the COVID vaccine have been shipped, including 2.5 million doses delivered to Taiwan over the weekend and about 1 million doses delivered to Mexico, Canada and South Korea earlier this month, the Associated Press found.
The White House has down played the possible missed deadlines.
Psaki blamed logistical challenges for the delay in getting doses of the vaccine overseas, including customs, language barriers and shipping issues.
'What we found to be the biggest challenge is not actually the supply. We have plenty of doses to share with the world, but this is a Herculean logistical challenge and we've seen that as we've begun to implement,' Psaki said at her press briefing on Monday.
'When we work with countries, we need to ensure that there's safety and regulatory information is shared. Some supply teams need needles, syringes and alcohol pads. Transportation needs teams need to ensure that there are proper temperature storage prep prevent breakage and ensure the vaccine immediately clears customs, so this has not as you all know, been done before. Sometimes it's even language barriers that occur as we're working to get these doses out to countries,' she said.
Last week the World Health Organization warned that the global spread of the coronavirus is moving faster than worldwide distribution of the vaccine.
More than 3.8 million people have died from COVID across the globe since the beginning of the pandemic.
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