President Biden’s promise to distribute 100 million injections of COVID-19 vaccines in his first 100 days in office does not mean that 100 million Americans will be vaccinated during that period, Dr. Anthony Fauci admitted on Sunday.
That volume of vaccinees will see only about 67 million people fully inoculated, because the current two vaccines require two injections, he said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program.
“Let me clarify this because there was a certain understanding. We are talking about 100 million injections in individuals, ”said the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
“At the end of a hundred days, you will have some people who will have received both injections and some will still be in their first injections,” added Fauci.
Fauci was confronted with an earlier interview in which he told CBS: “You know, the goal that has been set, which I believe is entirely achievable, is to have 100 million people vaccinated in the first 100 days.”
When asked at the time whether this meant “both vaccines”, he replied, “Primary and booster, yes.”
Biden’s “100 million” goal has already been criticized for aiming too low – with data showing that the country was already distributing more than 1 million shots a day when he took office.
When asked last week why he didn’t aim higher, he yelled at a reporter: “Come on, give me a break, man! It’s a good start. “
The CDC said it administered more than 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the United States by Saturday.
Another 20 million have been distributed, the agency said.
With Post Wires