President Joe Biden set a new goal in America’s fight against COVID-19 (watch above). By July 4th, he wants 70% of all Americans adults to have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine. That’s 160 million people.

“Let’s celebrate our independence as a nation and our independence from this virus,” Biden said from the White House on Tuesday afternoon.

He said new pop-up clinics – including mobile clinics – will be deployed to help meet the new benchmark. Pharmacies will also expand walk-in appointments. Additional resources will be devoted to rural areas, where inoculations have lagged.

Biden said his administration is also preparing to vaccinate young Americans if the FDA approves it. He said federal officials will ship vaccines directly to pediatricians. “The administration is “challenging” states to administer at least one shot to as many teens as possible by July 4, so they can be fully vaccinated by the time school starts in the fall,” reports USA Today.

More than 40% of US adults – some 105 million – are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data, and 147 million Americans have received at least one dose.

The New York Times provides more details on Biden’s remarks:

In an afternoon address, the president pledged more funding for outreach campaigns designed to convince those reluctant to get shots of the need to protect their own health and that of others. Despite a flood of vaccine available, providers are administering about 2.29 million doses per day on average, about a 32 percent decrease from the peak of 3.38 million reported on April 13, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Senior health officials have decided that herd immunity — the point at which the virus dies out for lack of hosts to transmit it — will likely remain elusive. But if 70 percent of the population is at least partially vaccinated, the nation can keep gradually removing restrictions that impede normal life, one senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity at a briefing for reporters.