More than a million people received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in the United States, said Robert Redfield, director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on Wednesday.
“The United States has reached an early but important milestone today – jurisdictions have already reported that more than a million people have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine since the administration began 10 days ago,” said Redfield.
In a call to reporters, Moncef Slaoui, chief aide to the government’s Operation Warp Speed, said the goal of immunizing 20 million people this month was “unlikely to be achieved”.
But he said the United States still seeks 100 million people immunized by the end of the first quarter of 2021, and another 100 million in the second quarter.
Three million doses were delivered last week in the United States, with the first authorized vaccine, developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, administered on December 14.
This week, the goal was to distribute 6 million doses of vaccines through Moderna this week and another 2 million from Pfizer.
The United States is the hardest hit country in the world and is experiencing an extreme winter wave.
More than 320,000 people have succumbed to the virus and is likely to be the leading cause of death in 2020, behind heart disease and cancer.
© Agence France-Presse