Biden expected to announce that all US adults will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine by April 19
AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File
- Biden set to announce on Tuesday that all US adults will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine by April 19.
- About 32% of Americans have received at least one vaccine dose and nearly 19% are fully vaccinated.
- Biden's goal is for 200 million shots to be administered in his first 100 days.
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President Joe Biden is expected to move up the timeline for all American adults to be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine to April 19, CNN reported Tuesday.
In his first televised address as president on March 11, Biden had directed states to make the vaccine available to all American adults by May 1, announcing that by the end of May, the United States would procure enough vaccine supply to vaccinate all Americans.
Several states have already opened up eligibility to residents 16 and up or announced plans to do so by May 1. Providers have administered three million vaccine daily doses on average over the past week, according to The New York Times.
On Tuesday afternoon, Biden is scheduled to give a speech announcing the new deadline and announcing that 150 million vaccine doses have so far been administered under his administration, CNN said. Biden's goal is for 200 million shots to be put into Americans' arms by the end of his first 100 days on April 30.
Biden is set to tour a vaccination site in Virginia on Tuesday before giving his speech at 3:45 pm while Vice President Kamala Harris will visit a labor union-run vaccine site in Chicago forged as a collaboration between the city of Chicago and the Chicago Federation of Labor.
As of Monday, 107.5 million Americans - or a little over 32% of the population - had received at least one vaccine dose, while 62.3 million Americans - making up 18.8% of the population - had been fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Pfizer and BioNTech's two-dose vaccine series are authorized for people aged 16 and up, while Moderna and Johnson & Johnson's vaccines are only authorized for adults 18 and above. Biden is also set to announce that among Americans 65 and older, 75% have received at least one vaccine dose and over half have been fully vaccinated.
The White House did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
This story will continue to be updated.