BETHESDA, Md. (AP) — President Joe Biden said Thursday that the U.S. will have enough supply of the COVID-19 vaccines by the end of the summer to inoculate 300 million Americans.
Biden made the announcement at the sprawling National Institutes of Health complex just outside Washington as he visited some of the nation’s leading scientists on the frontlines of the fight against the disease. He toured the Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory that created the COVID-19 vaccine now manufactured by Moderna and being rolled out in the U.S. and other countries.
The U.S. is on pace to exceed Biden’s goal of administering 100 million vaccine doses in his first 100 days in office, with more than 26 million shots delivered in his first three weeks.
“That’s just the floor,” Biden said. “Our end goal is beating COVID-19.”
Biden announced on Thursday that the U.S. had secured contractual commitments from Moderna and Pfizer to deliver the 600 million vaccines by the end of July — more than a month earlier than initially anticipated.
“We’re now on track to have enough supply for 300 million Americans by the end of July,” he announced.
The pace of injections could increase further if a third coronavirus vaccine from drugmaker Johnson & Johnson receives approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
Speaking with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease specialist, Biden emphasized that his administration is doing everything possible to increase the vaccine supply and the country’s capacity to deliver injections into arms.
“It’s been a hell of a learning process,” Biden said.
Biden, wearing a mask, used his remarks to criticize President Donald Trump, saying he inherited “no plan to vaccinate most of the country.”
“It is no secret that the vaccination program was in much worse shape than my team and I anticipated,” he said.
To date, the Biden administration has deployed active-duty troops to help stand up mass vaccination sites in several states, as it looks to lay the groundwork for increasing the rate of vaccinations once more supply is available.
The Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory is led by Dr. Barney Graham, whose team made critical discoveries years ago that laid the groundwork for rapid development of that and other COVID-19 vaccines. Before the pandemic erupted, one of Graham’s research fellows, Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, had been using those earlier findings to develop a vaccine for MERS, a cousin of COVID-19.
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Associated Press Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard in Washington contributed to this report.
