US draws close to 100M COVID-19 vaccinations

The U.S. moved closer Thursday toward vaccinating 100 million Americans in a race against an uptick in COVID-19 cases that is fueling fears of another surge.

More than 99 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and more than 56 million people — 17 percent of the nation’s population — have been fully vaccinated.

A total of 154 million vaccines had been administered as of Thursday. President Joe Biden’s new goal is to give 200 million vaccine doses during his first 100 days in office.

But coronavirus infections are inching up again. The country is averaging 64,000 cases per day this week, up from a daily average of 55,000 infections two weeks ago. Deaths have steadily been averaging about 900 a day.

Meanwhile, states are doubling their efforts to vaccinate as many people as possible by expanding eligibility and touting the vaccines as essential to getting back to normal.

As of Thursday, anyone 50 or older is eligible for a vaccine in California, the country’s most populous state.

In Michigan, which has the country’s highest new case rate over the past week, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer doubled the state’s daily COVID-19 vaccination goal to 100,000 shots as the state faces a third surge.

The state added 6,000 cases Thursday for the second day in a row. Its seven-day average, 5,061, has grown sixfold over nearly six weeks.

Michigan also reported its first confirmed case of a coronavirus variant initially identified in Brazil. The state previously reported finding variants that were first identified in Britain and South Africa.

While some states are struggling to meet vaccine demand, others report that a significant portion of their populations are hesitant to get the vaccine.

In Iowa, about a third of the state’s adult population, roughly 800,000 people, will not commit to getting a vaccine, which prompted Gov. Kim Reynolds to plead with them to consider it for everyone’s sake.

Iowa’s virus activity has increased in recent weeks specifically among spring break travelers ages 18 to 29.

In other coronavirus news:

J&J vaccine maker had violation history

The company at the center of quality problems that led Johnson & Johnson to discard 15 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine has a string of citations for quality control problems.

Emergent BioSolutions, a little-known company vital to the vaccine supply chain, was a key to Johnson & Johnson’s plan to deliver 100 million doses of its single-shot vaccine to the United States by the end of May. But the Food and Drug Administration repeatedly has cited Emergent for problems such as poorly trained employees, cracked vials and problems managing mold and other contamination around one of its facilities.

Johnson & Johnson said Wednesday that a batch of vaccine made by Emergent at its Baltimore factory cannot be used because it did not meet quality standards. It was unclear how the problem would affect future deliveries of J&J’s vaccine. The company said it was still planning to deliver 100 million doses by the end of June.î

“Human errors do happen,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said Thursday in an interview on CBS’ “This Morning.î” “You have checks and balances . . . . That’s the reason why the good news is that it did get picked up. As I mentioned, that’s the reason nothing from that plant has gone into anyone that we’ve administered to.”î

White House press secretary

Jen Psaki said Thursday that none of the J&J vaccine doses on the market are affected and the company was on track to deliver 24 million doses in April and 100 million doses by the end of May.

US allows 2 more COVID home tests

WASHINGTON — U.S. health officials have authorized two more over-the-counter COVID-19 tests that can be used at home.

The move by the Food and Drug Administration is expected to vastly expand the availability of cheap home tests that many have advocated since the early days of the outbreak.

The FDA said Abbott’s Bi-naxNow and Quidel’s Quick-Vue tests can now be sold without a prescription.

The tests allow users to collect a sample themselves with a nasal swab that is then inserted into a test strip. Results are available in 10 to 20 minutes.

Both companies said they would sell the tests in two packs. Repeat testing helps reduce chances of false results.

France defends new virus restrictions

PARIS — France’s prime minister on Thursday defended new nationwide measures to combat a resurgent coronavirus that include closing schools for at least three weeks and putting in place a month-long domestic travel ban, saying the government has acted “consistently and pragmatically.”

The National Assembly, France’s lower house, voted to approve the new measures Thursday by 348-9, after opposition parties boycotted the vote en masse.

On Thursday the World Health Organization criticized of Europe’s vaccine rollout as being “unacceptably slow.”

Prime Minister Jean Castex said more than 8 million people in France have received at least one dose of vaccine.