Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
US Poised To Cross 100M Vaccination Milestone
NBC News: Biden Expected To Hit Goal Of 100 Million Vaccination Shots Friday
President Joe Biden said he was poised to meet his goal of administering 100 million Covid-19 vaccination shots in his first 100 days on Friday, more than 40 days ahead of schedule. "I am proud to announce that tomorrow, 58 days into my administration, we will have met our goal," Biden said Thursday afternoon in a speech at the White House. "That's weeks ahead of schedule, even with the setbacks we faced during the winter storms." Biden said that 100 million vaccines was "just the floor" and he would announce a new goal next week. (Egan, 3/18)
AP: Biden Says US To Hit 100 Million Virus Goal On Friday
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 quickly revised it upward to 150 million doses in his first 100 days. (Miller, 3/19)
Fox News: US To Hit 100M COVID-19 Vaccines Administered Friday, Biden Says
Biden said current data reflects that 65% of people ages 65 and older in the U.S. have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, while 36% of this population are fully vaccinated. He said reaching this level is key as "this is the population that represents 80% of the well over 500,000 COVID-19 deaths in America." (Hein, 3/18)
