US belatedly hits Biden’s COVID vaccination goal

US belatedly hits Biden’s COVID vaccination goal

WASHINGTON: The United States on Monday hit President Joe Biden’s goal of administering at least one dose of a COVID vaccine to 70 percent of adults almost a month late, as the newest wave of infections pushed hospitalizations to levels seen last summer. Biden’s administration had initially targeted Independence Day on July 4 to reach the goal and declare victory over the worst of the pandemic.

But falling vaccination rates, particularly in politically conservative regions in the South and Midwest, and among younger people, those with lower income and racial minorities, meant the objective was missed. While 60.6 percent of eligible adults and 49.7 percent of the total population are now fully vaccinated, the United States has fallen behind its northern neighbor Canada, which started its immunization campaign later but has now fully vaccinated 59 percent of its people.

It comes as America was being battered by a new wave driven by the hyper-contagious Delta variant, which has sent national daily cases soaring to beyond 70,000, according to data that excludes unreliable weekend numbers. Across the country, hospitals were seeing on average more than 6,200 daily COVID admissions, while more than 300 people are dying every day.

“These cases are concentrated in communities