WASHINGTON (NewsNation Now) — President Joe Biden is set to announce that he’s shaving about two weeks off his May 1 deadline for states to make all adults eligible for coronavirus vaccines.
An administration official confirms with NewsNation that Biden plans to announce that every adult in the U.S. will be eligible to be vaccinated by April 19. Biden will make the announcement at the White House on Tuesday following a visit to a vaccination site in Virginia.
Biden announced just last week that 90% of adults would be eligible for one of three approved vaccines by April 19, in addition to having a vaccination site within 5 miles of where they live.
Biden is also expected to announce that 150 million doses have been put into people's arms since his inauguration on Jan. 20. That puts the president well on track to meet his new goal of 200 million shots administered by April 30 — his 100th day in office.
Biden's original goal had been 100 million shots in arms by the end of his first 100 days.
The announcement about vaccine eligibility is somewhat symbolic and comes as states already were moving up their deadlines from the original May 1 goal. It also comes as a flood of vaccine supply is being sent to states this week.
At least a dozen states opened eligibility to anyone over the age of 16 on Monday alone, while New Jersey's governor announced Monday that people age 16 and older will become eligible on April 19. A handful of states, including Hawaii and Oregon, still have May 1 as the deadline.
0 Comments