It's looking less likely the U.S. will hit Biden's July 4 vaccine goal

A man receives a COVID-19 vaccine shot.
(Image credit: Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)

President Biden has said he wants to see 70 percent of American adults at least partially vaccinated by July 4, but for this to happen, roughly 16 million people have to receive their first dose in the next few weeks, The Associated Press reports.

Two months ago, almost 2 million people were getting vaccinated per day, and that has since dropped to 400,000 a day. In 14 states, at least 70 percent of adults have had at least one vaccine, and 12 other states are on track to hit this target by July 4. Jeff Zients, the White House COVID-19 coordinator, asked governors in a conference call Tuesday to pull "out all the stops" to increase vaccinations in June. "We need your leadership on the ground — which is where it matters the most — more than ever," he said.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

There are still concerns over variants spreading in the United States, like the Delta variant that surged in India and is now the dominant strain in the United Kingdom. It's believed to be deadlier and able to spread faster, and such variants are one of the reasons why more Americans need to get vaccinated, public health experts say. Incentives have been shown to work — in Ohio, after Gov. Mike DeWine (R) announced a $1 million lottery for vaccinated adults, there was a 43 percent increase in the number of vaccinations in the state. That was only temporary, though, and the numbers were down a week later.

Explore More
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.