President Joe Biden announced in May that he was setting a goal of getting 70% of U.S. adults to receive at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and having 160 million adults fully vaccinated by July 4.
“If we succeed in this effort,” Biden said, “then Americans will have taken a serious step toward a return to normal.”
Six weeks after Biden’s call for vaccinations, 13 states and the District of Columbia have reached the vaccine goal.
Three states — Vermont, Massachusetts and Hawaii — have gone past the July 4 goal and have administered at least one shot to 80% of their residents.
Three states — Connecticut, Maine, and New Jersey — have partially or fully vaccinated more than 75% of the people in their states.
Seven other states — California, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Mexico Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Washington — along with the District of Columbia, have at least partially vaccinated 70% of their adults.
As of Thursday, 175 million Americans, 52.7% of the country’s population, have gotten at least one shot of a vaccine and 146.5 million, or 44.1%, are fully vaccinated.
Eight states have rates for fully vaccinated residents sitting below 35%.
Mississippi has the lowest rate of fully vaccinated residents, with only 28% who have gotten two shots of the Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines, or one shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Tennessee and Wyoming have fully vaccinated fewer than 35% of their state populations.
According to The New York Times, at the current rate at which vaccinations are being given, 68% of American adults will be at least partially vaccinated by July 4.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in May granted Pfizer Emergency Use Authorization to administer its COVID-19 vaccine to those ages 12-15.
Since the approval, some 2 million people in that age group have received at least one shot.
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