The Biden administration recently fell short of its July 4th vaccination goal as many Americans push for fully reopening the economy with vaccines having become more widely available.
In May, President Joe Biden announced that he was setting a goal “for 70% of the U.S. adult population to have one vaccine shot and 160 million U.S. adults to be fully vaccinated by July 4 so that life can start to look closer to normal,” as detailed in a White House fact sheet.
According to the CDC, as of early Monday morning, 150,312,726 adults in the U.S. were fully vaccinated and 58.2% of the adult population was fully vaccinated. The numbers for adults who have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine are higher, with 67.1% of the adult population reaching that mark and 173,194,895 adults having received one dose. The numbers still fell short of Biden’s previously set goal for the nation.
In a tweet on Sunday, Biden wrote, “This year, the Fourth of July is a day of special celebration. For we are emerging from the darkest of years. A year of pandemic and isolation. A year of pain, fear, and heartbreaking loss. Today, we can say with confidence: America is coming back together.”
This year, the Fourth of July is a day of special celebration. For we are emerging from the darkest of years. A year of pandemic and isolation. A year of pain, fear, and heartbreaking loss.
Today, we can say with confidence: America is coming back together.
— President Biden (@POTUS) July 4, 2021
“If you haven’t gotten vaccinated, please do it now. It’s the most patriotic thing you can do,” the president added.
“Today, we see the results of the unity of purpose we are forging in our nation. For together, we are beating this virus. Together, we are breathing life into our economy. And together, we will rescue our people from division and despair,” he added.
Late last month, NBC News reported that the White House was expected to announce its failure to meet the previously set goal.
At a press briefing on June 22, Jeffrey Zients, the head of the White House Covid-19 response team, noted, “We will meet the 70 percent goal for ages 27 and older by end of July 4th weekend, with a few extra weeks needed for the 18- to 26-year-olds to get vaccinated.”
In an interview on July 4th with ABC’s “This Week,” Zients was asked about the failure to meet the administration’s goal.
Zients vaguely addressed the inquiry, noting, “Younger people, particularly those in their 20s, have felt less vulnerable to the disease and, therefore, less eager to get shots. They were made eligible later so they have not been eligible as long and we continue to see hundreds of thousands of young people vaccinated each week.”
“But we need to continue to vaccinate everyone, particularly young people, because what we know is if you are vaccinated you’re protected. And if you’re not vaccinated, you’re not protected. And that’s particularly important for everyone, including young people, in light of the Delta variant,” he added.
The White House held a July 4th celebration in order to celebrate the holiday and commemorate the struggles of the past year.
“Today, we celebrate America. Our freedom, our liberty, our independence. The Fourth of July is a sacred day in our country. A day of history, of hope, remembrance and resolve, of promise and possibilities,” Biden said in remarks before of a fireworks show at the event.
Biden said that the country is “closer than ever to declaring our independence from a deadly virus” while warning that “COVID-19 has not been vanquished.”
He also touted the reopening of schools and an allegedly faster than assumed economic recovery, even though many Americans have been pushing for schools to reopen long before they are scheduled to do so due to the distress and disadvantage for children who are not in schools.