Tracking President Biden’s vaccination goal

WASHINGTON (NewsNation Now) — The number of COVID-19 vaccinations in the U.S. hit President Joe Biden’s goal of 200 million doses within his first 100 days in office on April 22.

NewsNation has been tracking that effort in an interactive chart below.

Updates

April 23, 2021

A U.S. health panel says it’s time to resume use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, despite a very rare risk of blood clots.

Out of nearly 8 million people vaccinated before the U.S. suspended J&J’s shot, health officials uncovered 15 cases of a highly unusual kind of blood clot, three of them fatal.

All were women, most younger than 50. But advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted 10 to 4 on Friday, saying the vaccine’s benefits outweigh that serious but small risk — especially against a virus that’s still infecting tens of thousands of Americans every day.

The government will rapidly weigh that recommendation in deciding next steps. Top health officials have said they hope for a quick return to the vaccine’s use after the panel meets.

April 22, 2021: 200M goal reached

According to the NewsNation Now tracker, President Biden surpassed his revised vaccine goal on Thursday.

April 21, 2021: 200M goal will be reached, Biden says

President Joe Biden said his administration will reach its revised goal of 200 million COVID-19 vaccine doses given within his first 100 days in office as of April 21.

Once vaccine totals for April 21 are released the following day, Biden said the total number of shots in arms in the 92 days since he took office on January 20 will exceed 200 million.

According to the latest CDC numbers for April 20, around 196,862,957 vaccine doses have been given in the United States. Biden said the numbers for April 21 will also show 80% of people over the age of 65 will have had at least one dose as well.

After surpassing the original goal of 100 million doses on March 18, Biden announced the following week that he would double his goal to 200 million doses administered within his first 100 days.

April 18, 2021: Half of all adults received dose in U.S.

Half of all adults in the U.S. have received at least one COVID-19 shot, the government announced Sunday, marking another milestone in the nation’s largest-ever vaccination campaign but leaving more work to do to convince skeptical Americans to roll up their sleeves.

Almost 130 million people 18 or older have received at least one dose of a vaccine, or 50.4% of the total adult population, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. Almost 84 million adults, or about 32.5% of the population, have been fully vaccinated.

The U.S. cleared the 50% mark just a day after the reported global death toll from the coronavirus topped a staggering 3 million, according to totals compiled by Johns Hopkins University, though the actual number is believed to be significantly higher.

April 6, 2021: All adults to be eligible by April 19

President Biden says states should make all adults eligible for coronavirus vaccines by April 19, shaving about two weeks off his previous deadline.

“No more, confusing rules. No more confusing restrictions” Biden said.

March 25, 2021

President Joe Biden laid out a new goal for COVID-19 vaccinations at his first formal news conference Thursday, pledging to have 200 million doses administered by the end of his first 100 days in office. That’s double the goal he set in December and reached earlier this month before his 60th day in office.

“I know it’s ambitious, twice our original goal, but no other country in the world has even come close,” said Biden.

March 18, 2021

The Biden administration officially surpassed its goal of injecting 100 million vaccine doses in his first 100 days, more than a month before his target date of his 100th day in office.

The administration will reportedly announce a new goal next week, with Biden telling the press they may aim to double their original objective and aim for 200 million doses in his first 100 days in office.

March 18, 2021

March 15, 2021

President Joe Biden said on Monday that Americans will have received 100 million shots to vaccinate them against the deadly coronavirus in the next 10 days.

Note: As the U.S. has surpassed 100 million vaccines, and President Biden is on track to surpass his goal, we have updated the design of the tracker to show more vaccines administered. We will continue tracking Biden’s first 100 days for vaccine administration.

March 11, 2021

In a primetime address, President Joe Biden said the United States is on track to distribute 100 million doses by day 60 of his administration.

Biden directed states to make all adults eligible for the coronavirus vaccine by May 1 and outlined a plan to get the U.S. ‘closer to normal’ by July 4 in a prime time address to the nation on Thursday night, one year after the World Health Organization officially declared a pandemic.

“By July the Fourth there’s a good chance your families and friends will be able to get together in your backyard or your neighborhood and have a cookout or a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day.”

President Joe Biden

The goal of a more normal Independence Day depends on Americans doing their part by getting vaccinated when it’s their turn and continuing to follow CDC guidelines of masking and social distancing, Biden stressed.

March 8, 2021

Fully vaccinated Americans can gather with other vaccinated people indoors without wearing a mask or social distancing, according to long-awaited guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The recommendations released Monday also say that vaccinated people can come together in the same way — in a single household — with people considered at low-risk for severe diseases, such as in the case of vaccinated grandparents visiting healthy children and grandchildren. According to the CDC, a person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the last required dose of vaccine.

March 2, 2021

 President Joe Biden Tuesday announced the U.S. is on track to have enough COVID-19 vaccine doses for every adult by the end of May.

“About three weeks ago, we were able to say that we’ll have enough vaccine supply for adults by end of July. I’m pleased to announce today as a consequence of the stepped up process that we’ve ordered and just outlined, this country will have enough vaccine supply for every adult in America by the end of May. That’s progress,” said Biden.

Biden called the announcement that Merck and Co Inc will help make rival Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot COVID-19 vaccine in a partnership, an example of “good corporate citizenship.”

Biden also added that he would like to see enough vaccine doses for every educator and school worker to receive the first dose of the vaccine by the end of March. He said he would direct every state to prioritize educators for vaccination.

Feb. 26, 2021

U.S. health advisers endorsed a one-dose COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson on Friday, putting the nation on the cusp of adding an easier-to-use option to fight the pandemic.

More than 47 million people in the U.S., or 14% of the population, have received at least one shot of the two-dose vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, which FDA authorized in December. But the pace of vaccinations has been strained by limited supplies and delays due to winter storms.

While early J&J supplies will be small, the company has said it can deliver 20 million doses by the end of March and a total of 100 million by the end of June.

Feb. 15, 2021

Due to President’s Day, there are no updates to Feb. 15’s numbers. According to the CDC, “updates will occur the following day when reporting coincides with a federal holiday.”

Feb. 9, 2021

The White House is increasing the supply of coronavirus vaccines beginning next week, with an aim to ensure the equity of the distribution of doses.

Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, the chair of the White House’s COVID-19 equity task force, said Tuesday that the federal government is devoting 1 million doses to begin distributing vaccines at 250 community health centers. It’s meant to be the first phase of a program to expand vaccinations to the more than 1,300 federally supported community health centers, which primarily care for low-income and uninsured populations. This will begin Monday, Feb. 15.

COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients also announced states will see their allocation of doses rise to 11 million per week, starting next week. That’s up more than 2 million since President Joe Biden took office.

Feb. 8, 2021

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris virtually toured a coronavirus vaccination site in Arizona Monday.

The virtual tour was of State Farm Stadium, a 24/7 vaccination site in Glendale.

Seven NFL stadiums were already being used as vaccination sites — the Arizona Cardinals’ State Farm Stadium, Atlanta Falcons’ Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Carolina Panthers’ Bank of America Stadium, Baltimore Ravens’ M&T Bank Stadium, Houston Texans’ NRG Park, Miami Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium and the New England Patriots’ Gillette Stadium — but NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell sent a letter to the president earlier in the week offering the remaining 23 stadiums.

The Pentagon approved the deployment of 1,100 active-duty troops to help deliver COVID-19 vaccine shots.

White House coronavirus adviser Andy Slavitt said Friday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s request to “augment and expedite vaccinations across the country.”

Austin sent the first group of active-duty personnel to support state vaccination sites in California.

The 1,100 active-duty members will be split up into five teams, two from the Army, and one each from the Air Force, the Navy and the Marine Corps.

Feb. 4, 2021

Johnson & Johnson said on Thursday it has asked U.S. health regulators to authorize its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use.

The drugmaker’s application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) follows its Jan. 29 report in which it said the vaccine had a 66% rate of preventing infections in its large global trial.

J&J’s single-shot vaccine could help boost supply and simplify the U.S. immunization campaign, amid concerns of fresh surges due to the more contagious UK coronavirus variant and the potential of lower vaccine efficacy against the variant that first emerged in South Africa.

Unlike the two currently authorized vaccines from Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc, J&J’s does not require a second shot or need to be shipped frozen.

Feb. 3, 2021

President Joe Biden’s administration announced Tuesday that it will begin shipping COVID-19 vaccines directly to select pharmacies on Feb. 11, as part of its plan to ramp up vaccinations as new and potentially more serious virus strains are appearing in the United States.

Meanwhile, AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine does more than prevent people from falling seriously ill — it appears to reduce transmission of the virus and offers strong protection for three months on just a single dose, researchers said Wednesday in an encouraging turn in the campaign to suppress the outbreak.

Jan. 29, 2021

The government’s top infectious disease expert said Friday he hopes to see children being vaccinated starting in the next few months. It’s a needed step to securing widespread immunity to the coronavirus.

“Hopefully by the time we get to the late spring and early summer we will have children being able to be vaccinated,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said during the White House coronavirus briefing.

Vaccines are not yet approved for children, and Fauci was looking ahead to a time they will be plentiful. Even older adults are having difficulty getting shots at the moment. As of Thursday, only about 1.3% of Americans had been fully vaccinated with the required two doses of the currently available vaccines.

Children represent about one-fourth of the population, and for the U.S. to reach “herd immunity,” or widespread resistance, about 70% to 85% of the population must be vaccinated.

Jan 27, 2021

More COVID-19 vaccination sites around the country are canceling appointments because of vaccine shortages. Even in areas where shots are available, confusion often reigns over who qualifies to get one.

Officials across the country are promising supply-chain improvements, even as mass-vaccination sites sit idle, waiting for shipments to arrive.

Also Wednesday, the Biden administration released the once-secret COVID-19 State Profile Reports for all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico.

The weekly reports published on Sunday were released Wednesday. These reports have been providing governors and state health officials a snapshot in time of the state of the pandemic and included details on COVID-19 vaccinations.

Jan 26, 2021

The Biden administration ordered 200 million more coronavirus vaccines and will funnel more doses to states now, in a bid to deliver on the U.S. president’s promise to curb the pandemic, President Joe Biden announced Tuesday.

“We’ll soon be able to confirm the purchase of the additional 100 million doses for each of the two FDA authorized vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna,” Biden said. “200 million more doses than the federal government had previously secured, not in hand yet, but ordered. We expect these additional 200 million doses to be delivered this summer. And some of it will come as early as early summer, but by mid-summer, this vaccine will be there.”

Biden said the move will increase the total vaccine order in the United States by “50%, from 400 million ordered to 600 million ordered.” He claimed it would be enough doses to fully vaccinate 300 million Americans against the coronavirus.

Jan. 25, 2021

President Joe Biden said on Monday he might be able to raise to 150 million his 100-day goal of administering 100 million vaccination shots for the coronavirus.

Biden told reporters it is likely that 1 million or more shots a day will be delivered in about three weeks.

“If we wear masks between now and the end of April, the experts tell us we may be able to save 50,000 lives,” Biden said.

Priority number one for President Biden’s first full week in office is the coronavirus pandemic, according to the White House. As of now, a goal of 100 million shots in the first 100 days — and turning around what has been a very slow vaccine rollout across the country.

“The process to distribute the vaccine, particularly outside nursing homes and hospitals, into the community as a whole did not really exist when we came into the White House,” White Chief of Staff Ron Klain said over the weekend.

Jan. 21, 2021

On his second day in office, President Biden said vaccines will be available in local pharmacies. He said he tasked the Department of Health and Human Services to expand the pool of professionals to administer the vaccine in an effort to meet his goal of 100 million shots in his first 100 days in office.

Dr. Anthony Fauci held his first briefing of the Biden administration and called Biden’s goal “reasonable.”

Fauci said he is pleased with Biden’s plans to launch community vaccine centers, get pharmacies more involved and invoke the Defense Production Act where appropriate, like needles and syringes.

“If we get 70 to 80% of the country vaccinated, let’s say by the end of the summer, middle of the summer. I believe by the time we get to the fall; we will be approaching a degree of normalities. It’s not going to be perfect, but one that can take the pressure of the American public,” he said.

Jan. 20, 2021

Amazon sent a letter shortly after President Joe Biden was sworn into office to offer the company’s support to deliver COVID-19 vaccinations.