Biden's COVID-19 czar says there's 'a lot to celebrate' despite missing July 4 vaccine goal

Jeff Zients, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, spoke with ABC News' Martha Raddatz on Sunday's edition of This Week, during which he addressed the fact that the White House fell short of reaching its goal of vaccinating 70 percent of U.S. adults by July 4.

"Younger people, particularly those in their 20s, have felt less vulnerable to the disease and therefore less eager to get shots," he said, though he added that the age group was made eligible later so "we continue to see hundreds of thousands of young people vaccinated each week."

Zients also pointed out that two-thirds of American adults have received at least one dose of a vaccine, while nearly 90 percent of people 65 and older — the demographic most at-risk of severe COVID-19 cases and death — have been inoculated. "We do have a lot to celebrate," he said. "We are much further along than I think anyone anticipated in this fight against the pandemic."

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