President Joe Biden is sharing some good news about when the COVID-19 vaccine will be widely available to adults in the U.S.
On Tuesday, Biden said, “We’re now on track to have enough vaccine supply for every adult in America by the end of May.”
“Let me say that again. When we came into office, the prior administration had contracted for not nearly enough vaccine to cover adults in America. We rectified that. About three weeks ago, we were able to say that we’ll have enough vaccine supply for adults by the end of July,” he continued.
Finally, Biden said, “I’m pleased to announce today as the consequence of the stepped-up process that I’ve ordered and just outlined, this country will have enough vaccine supply — I’ll say it again — for every adult in America by the end of May… That’s progress. Important progress.”
Watch the video below:
Biden: "We're now on track to have enough vaccine supply for every adult in America by the end of May." pic.twitter.com/QEPBhvR7kY
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 2, 2021
Days after assuming office, he told reporters he believed that anyone who wanted a vaccine would be able to get one by the spring.
But weeks later, Biden appeared to push back that timeline as he predicted that every American who wanted a vaccine will be able to get one in August.
Biden also ordered 200 million more doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccines in February. However, officials expected that those doses would not be available until July.
However, the Food and Drug Administration has approved the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for emergency use — the third vaccine to be approved.
Additionally, to help produce the vaccine, pharmaceutical company Merck will also produce the vaccine and prepare it for distribution. Officials expect that Johnson & Johnson will be able to deliver 20 million doses of the vaccine by the end of March.
In February, the administration started shipping states 14.5 million doses of the vaccine per week, which officials say is a roughly 70% increase from the last weeks of the Trump administration.
As of Tuesday, more than 78 million Americans have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
