The Biden administration Friday officially surpassed its goal of injecting 100 million vaccine doses in his first 100 days, more than a month before his target date of his 100th day in office, as the president prepared to set his sights higher in the nationwide vaccination effort.
The nation is now administering about 2.5 million shots per day. Biden, who promised to set a new goal for vaccinations next week, teased the possibility of setting a 200 million dose goal by his 100th day in office.
[...]The 100 million-dose goal was first announced on Dec. 8, days before the U.S. had even one authorized vaccine for COVID-19, let alone the three that have now received emergency authorization. Still, it was generally seen within reach, if optimistic.
By the time Biden was inaugurated on Jan. 20, the U.S. had already administered 20 million shots at a rate of about 1 million per day, bringing complaints at the time that Biden’s goal was not ambitious enough. He later revised it upward to 150 million doses in his first 100 days.
Now, the vaccination pace is expected to dramatically rise later this month in conjunction with an expected increase in supply of the vaccines — putting a 200 million dose goal well within reach.
The president has moved to speed up deliveries of vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, as well as to expand the number of places to get shots and people who can administer them, with a focus on increasing the nation’s capacity to inject doses as supply constraints lift.
