Biden says all adults eligible for shot by April 19

Deadline moved up as virus cases are increasing

President Joe Biden on Tuesday moved up by two weeks, to April 19, his deadline for states to make every American adult eligible for coronavirus vaccination, following the lead of states around the country that are already meeting that timetable.

Biden’s announcement came as Americans and their elected officials were grappling with competing and seemingly contradictory forces. The pace of vaccinations is accelerating, but worrisome new variants are spreading. The death rate is declining, but caseloads and hospitalizations are on the rise.

California officials announced on Tuesday that they plan to lift all coronavirus restrictions on June 15, provided there are enough COVID-19 vaccines available for anyone age 16 or older and hospitalizations remain low and stable. Other states are already lifting restrictions, but Biden, in remarks at the White House, warned against throwing off the guardrails too soon.

“The virus is spreading because we have too many people who, seeing the end in sight, think we’re at the finish line already,” the president said. “But let me be deadly earnest with you: We aren’t at the finish line. We still have a lot of work to do. We’re still in a life-and-death race against this virus.”

The president also reiterated his pledge to give surplus vaccine to other countries, once he is certain there is enough for people in the United States.

Not quite a month ago, Biden set a deadline of May 1 for states to open up vaccination to all adults. A week after that, he said that by April 19, 90 percent of adults would be eligible for a shot and would be able to get one within 5 miles of their home.

Since then, nearly every state in the nation has accelerated its vaccination program, and the vast majority are now meeting or coming in ahead of the April 19 target. On Tuesday, Oregon said those 16 or older will be eligible for vaccination on April 19.

At least 530 new coronavirus deaths and 76,624 new cases were reported in the United States on Monday, according to a New York Times database. Over the past week, there has been an average of 64,855 new cases per day, an increase of 20% from the average two weeks earlier.

That has put the country in a tenuous situation, with public health officials, including Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pleading with governors not to lift restrictions and with citizens to continue to follow social distancing guidelines, wear masks and take other public health precautions. Last week, Walensky said she felt a sense of “impending doom” from a potential fourth surge of the pandemic.

Many public health experts say that the nation is in a race between the vaccines and the variants and the vaccines appear to have the upper hand.