■ President Joe Biden marked his administration reaching 100 million vaccine doses administered.

He visits CDC, marks U.S. reaching vaccination benchmark

ATLANTA — President Joe Biden visited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday and used the appearance to celebrate his administration reaching the benchmark of injecting 100 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine since his inauguration.

Biden met with scientists at the CDC in Atlanta on Friday to express his gratitude for their work trying to stop the coronavirus, while also learning about variants of the virus and the unfolding medical situation.

Biden pumped his fist as the CDC’S director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, said the 100 million vaccine-threshold had been reached.

The president told CDC staff: “We owe you a gigantic debt of gratitude and we will for a long, long, long time. You are the army, you are the navy, the marines, the coast guard … you are the frontline troops.”

With the nation now administering about 2.5 million shots per day, Biden, who promised to set a new goal for vaccinations next week, teased the possibility of setting a

200 million-dose goal by his 100th day in office.

“We may be able to double it,” he told reporters before leaving the White House for Atlanta. His comments come as the U.S. is on pace to have enough of the three currently authorized vaccines to cover the entire adult population just 10 weeks from now.

As the pace of U.S. vaccinations and supply improves, the White House said the nation is now in position to help supply neighbors Canada and Mexico with millions of lifesaving shots.

Coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients said Friday that 2.5 million doses of the Astrazeneca vaccine would go to Mexico and 1.5 million would be sent to Canada. He emphasized that because the Astrazeneca shot is not yet authorized in the U.S., “This loan will not reduce the supply of vaccine to Americans.”

“Our first priority remains vaccinating the U.S. population,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday. But she added that “ensuring our neighbors can contain the virus is a mission critical step, is mission critical to ending the pandemic.”