WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden said today he was setting a new goal of administering 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine in the United States in his first 100 days in office.
His administration initially set a goal of 100 million shots administered in that time period, and met it last week, ahead of schedule. Biden took office on Jan. 20. He will have served 100 days by April 29.
“I know it’s ambitious – twice our original goal. But no other country in the world has even come close,” Biden told reporters at the White House at the opening of a news conference. “I believe we can do it.”
More than 85 million people in the United States had received one shot by midweek this week and more than 46 million people had been fully vaccinated.
The federal government is already on track to exceed 200 million shots shipped more than a week before Biden’s 100th day in office even if it fails to significantly boost U.S. vaccine production.
The government was putting around 2.5 million shots in arms per day as of last week and has already administered 133 million doses in the United States.
It recently increased distribution of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine, allocating 4 million doses of the single-shot regimen next week, which should further speed up vaccinations.
Biden pledged as a presidential candidate to do a better job of fighting the coronavirus pandemic than his predecessor, Republican Donald Trump, who helped spur fast development of vaccines but otherwise downplayed the health crisis and eschewed advice on mask-wearing, large gatherings and other actions to stop the spread of the virus.
Biden and his aides have continued to urge Americans to be cautious and follow the advice of health experts even as more people get vaccinated.
