All adults in every US state, Washington, DC, and Puerto
Rico are now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, meeting the April 19 deadline
that President Joe Biden set two weeks ago.
اضافة اعلان
“For months I’ve been telling Americans to get vaccinated
when it’s your turn. Well, it’s your turn, now,” Biden said Sunday on a program
called “Roll Up Your Sleeves” on NBC. “It’s free. It’s convenient and it’s the
most important thing you can do to protect yourself from COVID-19.”
The United States is administering an average of 3.2 million
doses a day, up from roughly 2.5 million a month before. More than 131 million
people, or half of all American adults, had received at least one shot as of
Sunday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (
CDC), and
about 84.3 million people have been fully vaccinated.
Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and
Vermont were the last states to expand eligibility, opening vaccinations to all
adults Monday.
“It’s truly historic that we have already reached this
milestone,” said Dr. Nandita Mani, the associate medical director of infection
prevention and control at the University of Washington Medical Center.
After a slow start, the pace of vaccinations has risen
considerably in recent months. Biden, who initially said he wanted states to
make all adults eligible for a vaccine by May 1, moved the deadline up as
vaccinations accelerated. Biden has also set a goal of administering 200
million doses by his 100th day in office, which the nation is on pace to meet.
The expansion of eligibility comes as medical officials investigate
whether Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot COVID-19 vaccine is linked to a rare
blood-clotting disorder. All 50 states suspended administration of the vaccine
last week, after federal health officials recommended a pause.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease
expert, said Sunday that federal regulators should come to a decision Friday
about whether to resume Johnson & Johnson vaccinations. Although he said he
did not want to get ahead of the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (
FDA), he
said he expected experts to recommend “some sort of either warning or
restriction” on the use of the vaccine.
Even if there is a link between the vaccine and the clotting
disorder, the risk is exceedingly low, experts say.
Still, Mani said the pause was likely to harden the
hesitancy of some Americans to get vaccinated.
At the same time, with the virus resurgent, public health
experts are warning Americans not to let their guards down. The United States
is averaging more than 67,000 new cases a day over the past seven days, up from
over 54,000 a month ago, according to a New York Times database.
“Seventy thousand cases a day is not acceptable. We have to
get that down,” said Barry Bloom, a research professor and former dean of the
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
He said more vaccinations would help, but people must remain
vigilant about wearing masks and social distancing.
At its current pace, the United States will vaccinate 70
percent of its population by mid-June. But vaccine hesitancy could slow progress
toward herd immunity, which will also depend on vaccinating children.
“We’re making tremendous progress, but we’re still in the
race against this virus, and we need to vaccinate tens of millions more
Americans,” Biden said on Sunday. “We could have a safe and happy Fourth of
July with your family and friends in small groups in your backyard. That’s
going to take everyone doing their part. Get vaccinated.”
Pfizer announced this month that it had applied for an
emergency use authorization to make children ages 12 to 15 eligible for its
vaccine. Moderna is expected to release results from its trial in young
teenagers soon, and vaccinations in this age group could begin before school
starts in the fall.
Trials in younger children are underway. Fauci also said
Sunday that he expected children of all ages to be eligible for vaccination in
the first quarter of 2022.
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