Residents wait in line to be vaccinated at a large-scale COVID-19 vaccination center in a parking lot outside the United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks, on March 10, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois.
Scott Olson | Getty images
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States delivered more than 100 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines on Friday.
About 35 million people are fully vaccinated, accounting for 13.5% of the adult U.S. population, according to the CDC. According to the CDC, more than 65.9 million people have received at least one shot of the two dosing regimens.
The milestone marks the fulfillment of President Joe Biden’s goal of shooting at least 100 million shots within his first 100 days in office.
The administration has slowly ramped up the pace of vaccinations since Biden took office. The White House originally intended to deliver a million shots a day, which has been criticized by some public health specialists as a low target. According to the CDC, the US took a record 2.9 million shots on Friday.
There are now three Covid-19 vaccines that have been licensed for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration. The two-dose vaccine from Moderna and Pfizer was approved for emergency use in December, and Johnson & Johnson’s one-time vaccine received approval last month.
The White House has worked with the manufacturers to speed up production and increase the overall shot supply for the US. On Wednesday, Biden announced that the government plans to secure an additional 100 million doses of the J&J vaccine.
J&J currently has a deal with the US government to provide 100 million doses by the end of June, although White House officials said this week that the company will be able to deliver those doses by the end of May. That’s thanks to a deal in which J&J will help rival Merck make doses of the vaccine, Jeff Zients, Covid-19 White House response coordinator, said Friday at a news conference.
Zients added that Moderna and Pfizer are both expected to deliver 200 million doses of their vaccines each by the end of May.
“That’s more than enough vaccine to vaccinate all adult Americans by the end of May,” Zients said. “Now we need to increase the number of vaccinators, as we have discussed, and the number of places where Americans can be vaccinated.”
This is the latest news. Please check again for updates.