Biden hits 100-day vaccine goal as case counts in Michigan

April 23, 2021: -On Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced that his administration had reached its goal of 200 million Covid vaccine doses administered in his first 100 days in office and touted that half of U.S. adults, and 80% of seniors, have received at least one dose.

The president had aimed for 100 million doses in 100 days, a goal that drew criticism for being too conservative. The administration now hit that target in 58 days.

In a White House speech, Biden also remarked that the country was entering a “new phase” of the vaccination effort after focusing primarily on high-risk groups like healthcare workers and nursing home residents for the initial three months of the rollout.

“The broad swath of American adults remains largely unvaccinated,” he said, adding that “too many younger Americans may still think they don’t need to get vaccinated.”

As of Monday, all states had expanded vaccine eligibility to include everyone 16 and older. On Wednesday, Biden announced a tax credit for employers offering vaccine-related paid leave.

The U.S. reports around 63,000 daily new Covid infections, based on a seven-day average of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. That figure is above the nation’s most recent low point of 53,600 per day in late March but has been trending downward over the past few days.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, the United States is averaging 3 million reported doses per day over the past week. That figure has held above 3 million for more than two weeks straight but is down slightly from a peak of 3.4 million reported shots per day on April 13.