Biden to Move Up Deadline for States to Expand Coronavirus Vaccine Eligibility: Reports | Health News


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President Joe Biden on Tuesday will urge states to open up coronavirus vaccinations to all adults nearly two weeks earlier than his previous timeline, according to reports.

Biden is scheduled to tour a vaccination site in Virginia on Tuesday afternoon and return to the White House to deliver remarks, in which he is expected to direct states to abide by an April 19 deadline to open up their vaccine eligibility. His previous timeline for states was May 1.

The development, which was first reported by CNN, shows the Biden administration’s confidence in its vaccine supply. The U.S. is averaging over 3 million shots administered per day, with nearly 19% of the country’s population fully vaccinated.

Cartoons on the Coronavirus

It comes despite a recent mix-up at a Baltimore facility that left about 15 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine unusable.

Biden has pledged that there will be enough vaccine supply for every adult in the U.S. by the end of May, though that doesn’t mean every adult will be vaccinated by that time. He plans to reach 200 million shots administered in his first 100 days in office.

But coronavirus cases continue to climb in the U.S., which is averaging over 60,000 new infections per day. With travel increasing and highly contagious variants spreading across the country, health officials have raised concerns about a possible fourth surge. And leading infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said on Monday that the public should not expect summer weather to offer any reprieve in transmission.

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