President Joe Biden marked a milestone Friday, announcing that the United States has administered “300 million shots in arms in just 150 days.”
Biden gives updates on COVID response after 150 days in office:
*300 million vaccine shots completed, with 65% of adults getting at least one shot
*Lowest daily deaths since start of pandemic
*73% of shots at community health centers in the last month went to people of color pic.twitter.com/zbp8R4KtwG— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 18, 2021
Based on current numbers, it unlikely Biden will achieve his goal of having 70 percent of Americans receive at least one shot by July 4. NBC reports:
The White House has increased efforts this month to bolster demand for the vaccine in order to meet his July 4 goal.
Biden started June by touting free child care and the lure of a complimentary beer to try to persuade more Americans to get vaccinated. The White House has also been encouraging companies to offer incentives to their employees and customers who get vaccinated, expanding the hours and locations of vaccination centers, and increasing its public messaging campaign.
Vice President Kamala Harris has also been traveling this week to encourage more people to get vaccinated.
I'm in Atlanta today with a clear message: The vaccine is safe, free, and effective. #WeCanDoThis pic.twitter.com/MUJtBkJJ7u
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) June 18, 2021
During his speech today, Biden also had a warning. As the Delta variant spreads, he said:
“The best way to protect yourself against these variants is to get fully vaccinated… The truth is that deaths and hospitalizations are drastically down in places where people are getting vaccinated. But unfortunately, cases and hospitalizations are not going down in many places, in the lower vaccination rate states. They’re actually going up in some places.”
Watch more of Biden’s remarks above.
Today, we’ve passed 300 million shots in 150 days.
When I took office, our nation was in crisis. Today, the virus is in retreat and our economy has smashed previous records for job growth.That’s just four months, folks.
— President Biden (@POTUS) June 18, 2021