More than 100 million people in the United States have received at least one COVID-19 vaccination shot, the National Public Health Service reported, as the Biden administration works to speed up vaccinations across the country.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said more than 101 million injections had been administered since the country’s vaccination program began late last year.
Of these, more than 35 million people – 10.5 percent of the US population – were considered “fully vaccinated,” the CDC said.
The US recorded the highest number of COVID-19 cases and coronavirus-related deaths in the world – with more than 29.3 million infections and more than 532,000 deaths – but the number of new infections has slowed nationwide.
President Joe Biden promised to tackle the pandemic harder than his predecessor Donald Trump, whom critics say has minimized the threat of the virus and pledged to administer 100 million COVID-19 shots in his first 100 days in function.
On Thursday, Biden said that all adults would be eligible for a shot on May 1 and that he hoped the country would return to normal by Independence Day on July 4.
He had previously said the US would have enough vaccine doses to inoculate every adult by the end of that month when he announced it would ramp up production of a newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Biden also said he would meet his goal of delivering 100 million injections by his 60th day in office. “No other country in the world has done this. None, ”he said.
However, public health experts have warned that while vaccinations are speeding up, people should keep a physical distance and follow public health guidelines to minimize potential spread of the virus.
Their warnings come as several US states, including Texas, have announced plans to reopen companies and lift mask mandates amid an economic downturn triggered by the pandemic.
The Associated Press news agency has reported that as COVID-19 infections are declining nationally, governors in more than half of the states have taken some action in the past two weeks to end or relax the restrictions.
Some capacity limits ended in Maryland and Oklahoma on Friday, the news agency said, while Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and Wyoming ease restrictions over the next week.
On Thursday, Biden signed into law a $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 bill, which his administration said would jump-start the struggling U.S. economy.
Among other things, the new law provides for the distribution of $ 1,400 in direct payments to 160 million US citizens. It was expected that the US Treasury Department would start mailing these checks as early as the weekend.
“This historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country,” Biden said in the Oval Office before signing the bill.
Inequality in vaccines
Biden’s push to vaccinate Americans quickly is also due to human rights organizations worldwide demanding greater vaccination equity, as richer countries secure millions of doses for their citizens, while poorer countries are left behind.
South Africa, India and more than 100 other countries this week also called on the World Trade Organization (WTO) to temporarily waive patents for COVID-19 vaccines so they can inoculate their populations.
In a statement on Thursday, Amnesty International said billions of people are at risk of not getting a single COVID-19 shot this year.
The group said rich countries have bought the most COVID-19 vaccines, despite making up only 16 percent of the world’s population. Those same countries have also administered 60 percent of the doses so far, while 100 countries have yet to inoculate a person.
“Who gets access to a COVID-19 vaccine, when and at what cost, are some of the most important and controversial questions facing our societies today. But the answers are the interests of powerful states and companies, ”said Stephen Cockburn, Amnesty’s chief of economics and social justice.
“So far they have created a dangerous situation with global inequalities in access to vaccines spiraling out of control. A few rich countries are racing ahead, while the rest of the world is struggling to get off the starting line. “