More than 100 million people in the United States have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine, reported the national public health agency, as the Biden administration works to accelerate vaccinations across the country.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said more than 101 million vaccines have been administered since the country’s vaccination program began last year.
Of these, more than 35 million people – 10.5 percent of the US population – were considered “fully vaccinated,” said the CDC.
The US recorded the highest number of COVID-19 cases and coronavirus-related deaths in the world – at more than 29.3 million infections and over 532,000 deaths – but the number of new infections has declined nationally.
President Joe Biden has pledged to take a tougher approach to dealing with the pandemic than his predecessor Donald Trump, who critics say has minimized the threat of the virus and has promised to administer 100 million doses of COVID-19 in his first 100 days in office. .
On Thursday, Biden said that all adults would be eligible for an injection by May 1 and that he hoped the country would return to normal by the Independence Day holiday on July 4.
He had previously said that the United States would have enough vaccine doses to inoculate all adults by the end of that month, when it announced the increase in production of a newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Biden also said he would meet his goal of managing 100 million jabs on his 60th day in office. “No other country in the world has done this. None, ”he said.
Public health experts have warned, however, that although vaccinations are accelerating, people need to maintain physical distance and follow public health guidelines to minimize any possible spread of the virus.
His warnings come at a time when several U.S. states, including Texas, have announced plans to reopen companies and suspend masking mandates amid an economic crisis caused by the pandemic.
The Associated Press news agency reported that as COVID-19 infections declined nationwide, governors in more than half of the states have taken steps in the past two weeks to end or ease the restrictions.
Some capacity limits ended Friday in Maryland and Oklahoma, the news agency said, while Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and Wyoming are easing restrictions next week.
On Thursday, Biden signed a $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that his government said would boost the struggling U.S. economy.
The new law provides for the distribution of $ 1,400 in direct payments to 160 million US citizens, among other provisions. The U.S. Treasury Department was due to start sending these checks as early as the weekend.
“This historic legislation deals with the reconstruction of the backbone of this country,” said Biden in the Oval Office before signing the project.
Vaccine inequity
Biden’s drive to vaccinate Americans quickly also comes at a time when human rights groups demand more vaccine equality around the world, as the richest countries guarantee millions of doses to their citizens, while the poorest countries are left behind.
South Africa, India and more than 100 other countries have also asked the World Trade Organization (WTO) this week to temporarily waive COVID-19 vaccine patents so they can inoculate their populations.
In a statement on Thursday, Amnesty International said that billions of people are at risk of not receiving a single injection of COVID-19 this year.
The group said that rich countries bought most of the COVID-19 vaccines, despite representing only 16% of the world’s population. Those same countries have also administered 60% of doses so far, while 100 countries have not yet inoculated a single person.
“Who has access to a COVID-19 vaccine, when and at what price are some of the most significant and contested issues facing our societies today. But the responses are being shaped by the interests of powerful companies and states, ”said Stephen Cockburn, Amnesty’s head of economics and social justice.
“So far, they have created a dangerous situation with global inequalities in access to vaccines getting out of hand. Some rich countries are running ahead, while the rest of the world struggles to get off the starting line. “