President Joe Biden said on Monday that he believes any American who wants a coronavirus vaccine might be able to receive it by the spring.
“I think we’ll be able to do that this spring,” Biden told reporters during a press conference.
President Biden says he thinks anyone who wants a COVID vaccine will be able to get one by “this spring.” pic.twitter.com/hU3FAita0K
— The Recount (@therecount) January 25, 2021
Biden: ‘That Is My Promise, That We Would Get 100 Million Vaccinations’
Biden added, “It’s going to be a logistical challenge that exceeds anything we’ve ever tried in this country, but I think we can do that.”
“Exceeds anything we’ve ever tried” is not exactly true – the Trump administration’s vaccine rollout was similar to what is being proposed or promised now.
The Washington Post reported on Friday that despite Biden’s emphasis on how ambitious their vaccine efforts are, “Six weeks later, the same target appears much less ambitious because of greater manufacturing certainty and the increased pace of inoculations in the final days of the Trump administration.”
“To defend the objective, Biden and his top aides have selectively interpreted that progress and issued broad-brush promises about expanding the availability of critical supplies, part of an effort to emphasize a break with the policies of their predecessors,” WaPo noted.
So don’t go patting yourself on the back too hard just yet, Joe.
Biden predicted that the U.S. would soon be vaccinating 1.5 million people per day. His administration’s goal is to administer 100 million shots within its first 100 days.
This comes out to about one million vaccinations per day.
“That is my promise, that we would get 100 million vaccinations,” Biden said Monday.
"I think it is going to be this spring," President Joe Biden says when asked by @josh_wingrove about a timeline of when everyone who wants a vaccine can get a vaccine. Says he thinks they're well on their way to herd immunity by summer.
— Katie Simpson (@CBCKatie) January 25, 2021
Biden: ‘I Think We May Be Able To Get That To… 1.5 Million A Day’
“I think with the grace of God and the good will of the neighbor and the creek not rising, as the old saying goes, I think we may be able to get that to 1.5 million a day, rather than 1 million a day, but we have to meet that goal of a million a day,” he added.
Biden also said Monday, “I’m quite confident that we will be in a position within the next three weeks or so to be vaccinating people at the range of a million a day or in excess of that.”
President Biden now says he believes everyone who wants a vaccine can get one by this spring (further than Trump officials estimated) and hopes to raise daily vaccinations to 1.5 million soon, upping his goal of one million per day given that threshold was reached last week.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) January 25, 2021
Biden Still Urges Caution And Patience
Responding to critics who have contended that even this rapid deployment might not be quick enough, Biden claimed that by summer, “we’re going to be well on our way to heading toward herd immunity,” which, at that point, would include making vaccines available for children.
But Biden still emphasized caution, saying, “It is going to take time. It is going to take a heck of a lot of time.”
“We are in this for a while” Biden added.