Carrot and sticks
Joe pushes virus independence by July 4
President Biden is shooting for a new coronavirus vaccination goal of administering at least one dose to 70% of American adults by July 4 as his administration grapples with how to expand access and overcome diminishing demand.
The new goal, which also comes with the aim of having fully vaccinated at least 160 million Americans by the federal holiday, isn’t as ambitious as some of Biden’s previous benchmarks.
More than 56% of American adults are already at least partially inoculated, and the 70% target will be met by Independence Day even if the current pace of vaccinations is cut nearly in half.
But while announcing the new goal Tuesday, Biden said the biggest challenge for his administration at this stage is beating back persistent vaccine hesitancy, including among young people, some Black and Latino communities, and registered Republicans.
“It’s another huge goal,” Biden said at the White House. “Now that we have enough vaccine supply, we’re focused on convincing enough Americans to show up.”
To keep getting more shots into arms, Biden said he’s calling on all governors to make vaccine appointments available on a walk-in basis — which is already in place at all state-run sites in New York. Biden said he’s directing federal vaccination sites, including CVS and Walgreens pharmacies, to do the same.
Additionally, Biden announced more than $1 billion in new funding for community-based and mobile vaccination clinics in under-served communities across the country. On top of that, Biden announced $130 million to combat misinformation about the efficacy of coronavirus vaccines.
The U.S. is still vaccinating at a rapid clip of about 965,000 first-shot doses per day, but immunization rates have slowed down significantly in the past few weeks amid continued vaccine reluctance in some demographics. Some states have even had to turn down federal vaccine shipments because of flagging demand.
To that end, Biden officials informed governors on a conference call Tuesday morning that the administration will start allocating vaccine shipments to states based on demand. That’s a significant shift in that the administration up until now has allocated vaccines strictly based on population size.
Beyond vaccine hesitancy, public health experts are raising alarm about some Americans having a hard time finding out where and how to get a shot, especially in rural communities.
As a result, Biden said the government is launching a new hotline, where Americans can text their zip code to 438-829 and get a roundup of vaccination sites in their vicinity. The same service is available on vaccines.gov.
“We need you to bring it home. Get vaccinated,” Biden pleaded with Americans. “In two months, let’s celebrate our independence as a nation and our independence from this virus.”
Nonetheless, hundreds of Americans continue to die every week from the virus, and Biden stressed in his remarks that vaccinations aren’t just about personal protection.
“It could save your life or the lives of the people you love,” he said. “Even if your own chance of getting seriously ill is low, why take the risk?”