WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden would announce Tuesday that he is shaving about two weeks from his May 1 deadline for states to qualify all adults for vaccines against the coronavirus.
As states progressively qualify for more than just priority groups like the elderly and key frontline workers, the president plans to announce that every adult in the U.S. will be eligible to be vaccinated by April 19, a White House official said .
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss Biden’s plans before the formal announcement. Biden was scheduled to visit a COVID-19 vaccination site in Virginia on Tuesday, followed by comments in the White House to keep the nation updated on the government’s progress against the coronavirus.
April 19 is about two weeks earlier than Biden’s original May 1 deadline.
Biden is also expected to announce that 150 million doses have been placed in people’s arms since his inauguration on Jan. 20. That puts the president well on track to reach his new target of 200 million shots delivered by April 30 – his 100th day in office. .
Biden’s original target was 100 million shots to the arms by the end of his first 100 days.
The vaccine eligibility announcement is somewhat symbolic and comes because states are already pushing back their deadlines from the original May 1 target. It’s also because there’s a flood of vaccines being sent to the states this week.
At least a dozen states have been granted access to anyone over the age of 16 on Monday only, while the Governor of New Jersey announced on Monday that people 16 and older will be eligible on April 19. A handful of states, including Hawaii and Oregon, still have May. 1 as a deadline.
Just last week, the president announced that 90% of adults would be eligible for one of three approved COVID-19 vaccines by April 19, in addition to a vaccination site within 5 miles of their home.
But being eligible is not the same as actually being vaccinated. People still have to make appointments to get vaccinated.
The White House said on Monday that nearly 1 in 3 Americans and more than 40% of adults have received at least one injection, and nearly 1 in 4 adults have been fully vaccinated. 75% of the elderly have now received at least one injection and more than 55% of them are fully vaccinated.
CNN was the first to report on Biden’s planned announcement.
Associated Press writer Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.