US risks missing vaccination target
United States President Joe Biden has taken a cautious victory lap in his quest to bring the Covid-19 pandemic under control, announcing that 300 million vaccine shots have been administered in the 150 days since he took office.
Biden yesterday credited scientists, companies, the American people and his whole-of-government effort. He noted that the widespread vaccination campaign had set the stage for most Americans to have a relatively normal summer as businesses reopen and employers hire.
But as Biden marks one milestone, he is in danger of failing to meet another: his target to have 70 per cent of American adults at least partially vaccinated by July 4.
Overall, about 168 million American adults, or 65.1 per cent of the population aged 18 and older, had received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine as of yesterday, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
But the pace of new vaccinations has dropped significantly from a high of nearly 2 million a day about two months ago, jeopardising Biden’s ability to hit the 70 per cent mark.
The government is in the middle of a month-long blitz to combat vaccine hesitancy and the lack of urgency some people feel to get the shots, particularly in the southern and midwestern US.
Victoria has recorded another locally
acquired virus case as the state emerges from its fourth lockdown, and New South Wales copes with increased restrictions to combat the latest outbreak.
The Victorian case is a close contact of an existing case, and has been in quarantine while infectious, bringing the total active cases in the state to 51.
Travel restrictions were scrapped in Victoria from Friday except for people visiting the snowfields, and masks are
no longer required outdoors.
Meanwhile, mask use is again compulsory on Sydney’s public transport after a man picked up Covid-19 from ‘‘fleeting exposure’’ to an infected man believed to be at the centre of this week’s outbreak.
The infections have prompted some states to tighten border restrictions for those who live in eastern Sydney or who attended the exposure sites.