25 March 2021

Joe Biden doubles vaccine target for first 100 days in office

25 March 2021

President Joe Biden has pledged to have 200 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines administered by the end of his first 100 days in office.

That is double the goal he set in December and reached earlier this month before his 60th day in office.

Mr Biden announced the new goal on Thursday at the start of his first formal news conference since his term began on January 20.

Mr Biden’s goal seems ambitious, but it actually amounts to a continuation of the country’s existing pace of vaccinations through the end of month.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul receives a Covid-19 vaccination from nurse Carla Taylor-Wilson at Advocate Health Care’s vaccine clinic at Imani Village in the Cottage Grove Heights neighbourhood in Chicago (Pat Nabong/AP) (AP)

The US is now averaging about 2.5 million doses per day.

A rate even greater than that is possible.

Over the next month, two of the bottlenecks to getting Americans vaccinated are set to be lifted.

The US supply of vaccines is on track to increase and states are lifting eligibility requirements for people to get the jabs.

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