Biden admin falls short of July 4 COVID-19 vaccination goal

The Biden administration has fallen short of the July 4 COVID vaccination goal to have 70 per cent of Americans at least partially vaccinated.

Citing the CDC data, Fox News reported that 67 per cent of adults in the country had received at least one vaccination shot as of Saturday (local time). Still, US President Joe Biden pointed to the millions who have received injections as evidence that the US is recovering.

In terms of total numbers, that amounts to just under 157 million people (47.3 per cent) in the US being fully vaccinated, and more than 182 million (54.9 per cent) having had at least one dose.

"This Fourth of July, America is back." "We're headed into a summer of joy - of freedom - thanks to the millions of Americans who stepped up to get vaccinated. To the frontline and essential workers who have made this day possible: thank you," Biden said in a tweet Sunday (local time).

However, a White House official told Fox News in June that the administration was "on track" to hit the president's target of delivering at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to 70 per cent of adults 27 years old and up but said it would not meet that goal until after the July 4 holiday due to a "reporting lag," because states are not sending data in "as consistently."

( With inputs from ANI )