Biden says US will have vaccines for every American adult by end of May
That bumps up the previous goal of the end of July.
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President Joe Biden
The US is now on track to have enough doses of COVID-19 vaccine for every adult in America by the end of May, President Joe Biden said Tuesday. The news advances the administration's previous goal of obtaining enough vaccine supply for all Americans by the end of July.
The announcement also comes just days after the Food and Drug Administration authorized Johnson & Johnson's one-shot vaccine for emergency use. It's the third coronavirus vaccine to be rolled out in the US, alongside Pfizer's and Moderna's, both of which received emergency-use authorization in December of last year.
"I'm pleased to announce today that as a consequence of the stepped-up process that I've ordered and just outlined, this country will have enough vaccine supply -- I'll say it again -- for every adult in America by the end of May," Biden told reporters at the White House.
Three weeks ago, I announced we would have enough vaccine supply for all Americans by the end of July.
— President Biden (@POTUS) March 2, 2021
Now, with our efforts to ramp up production, we will have enough vaccines for every American by the end of May.
Biden tweeted out the new timeframe, too, and added that he's directing all states to prioritize education workers for the vaccine.
"We want every educator, school staff member, and child-care worker to receive at least one shot by the end of this month," Biden tweeted. "It's time to treat in-person learning like the essential service that it is."