Vaccination Rates Plummet in U.S., Putting Biden’s July 4 Goal in Doubt
FALLING SHORT
Daily vaccination rates in the United States are dropping rapidly, making President Biden’s goal of having 70 percent of adults receive their first shot by July 4 increasingly unlikely. According to The Washington Post, the U.S. is now administering fewer than 1 million shots a day on average, a more than two-thirds decline from peak distribution rates of 3.4 million per day in April. The drop seems to coincide with the temporary suspension of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after a number of rare blood-clot incidents were linked to its administration.
According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, part of the issue is that vaccines have already reached the “low-hanging fruit—those people who absolutely want to get vaccinated without telling you telling them anything,” and that the people who remain will need to be convinced. A number of states have begun to incentivize vaccinations with promotions and lotteries. The slowdown has been particularly felt in many Southern and Midwestern states. While daily COVID-19 case rates continue to decline in the U.S., experts say higher levels of immunization are required to prevent another surge next winter.