Biden says US will have enough COVID-19 vaccines for everyone by May
Following a rough 2020, the pandemic situation in the US is looking brighter than ever. In an announcement today, President Biden revealed that COVID-19 vaccine production efforts have resulted in an accelerated availability timeline and that the US is now on course to have enough vaccine doses for everyone in the nation by May.
Last month, the Biden administration announced that the US was on schedule for having enough vaccine doses to cover the entire American population by the end of July. In the latest update announced on Tuesday, March 2, Biden revealed on the Twitter POTUS account that the availability has been moved to May.
Three weeks ago, I announced we would have enough vaccine supply for all Americans by the end of July.
Now, with our efforts to ramp up production, we will have enough vaccines for every American by the end of May.
— President Biden (@POTUS) March 2, 2021
As a result, we may be only a couple of months away from the average person having the opportunity to head to their nearest clinic and request to be vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The news comes only a few days after the FDA granted Johnson & Johnson an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for its single-dose Janssen COVID-19 vaccine.
Today, I am directing every state to prioritize educators for vaccination. We want every educator, school staff member, and child-care worker to receive at least one shot by the end of this month.
It's time to treat in-person learning like the essential service that it is.
— President Biden (@POTUS) March 2, 2021
In addition, Biden addressed concerns about teachers and others in education being left out of the early vaccination programs in many states. According to the POTUS, in-person education will be considered an essential service and educators will be vaccinated as essential workers.
The fight against COVID-19 is a war-time effort — and to win, we need breakthrough approaches. Today, I'm announcing we're bringing together Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and the full power of the federal government to ramp up vaccine production and defeat this virus. pic.twitter.com/knu1PIXOtl
— President Biden (@POTUS) March 2, 2021
According to the CDC's COVID-19 vaccine tracker, more than 102 million doses have been distributed in the US as of March 2, and more than 78 million doses have been administered. Many states are still limiting vaccine doses to essential workers, doctors, the elderly, and others who meet early vaccination eligibility requirements.