During his first official press conference as President, Joe Biden set a new goal of vaccinating 200 million Americans during his first 100 days in office.
The U.S. surpassed Biden's campaign promise of 100 million people in 58 days, and the President is confident the country can meet the new goal in the next 35 days.
"I know it's ambitious. Twice our original goal. But no other country in the world has even come close, not even close to what we are doing. I believe we can do it," Biden said.
Over 130 million doses have been administered, and more than 85 million people have received their first dose, and over 46 million people have been fully vaccinated.
"Not yet a majority, but we're really close, and I believe in the 35 days left to go we'll meet that goal as well," he said.
The FDA will allow a plant that has been making Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccines to begin shipping them across the country.
Johnson & Johnson partnered with Catalent to boost production to meet the goal of delivering 20 million doses of the single-shot vaccine by the end of March.
The plant, in Bloomington, Indiana, has been upgraded with a dedicated line to fill vials with the Johnson & Johnson's vaccine, and hired an additional 300 people to work around the clock producing the vaccine.
Johnson & Johnson had four million doses ready to ship when the vaccine was granted an emergency use authorization from the FDA, but the company has shipped out just 1.2 million doses with plans to distribute another four million vaccines this week.
President Joe Biden announced a partnership between Merck & Co. and Johnson & Johnson to produce the newly authorized vaccine, this will change the vaccine timeline, so there would be enough for every American adult by the end of May.
Johnson & Johnson's vaccine manufacturing facilities will now begin to operate 24/7, and the president wants teachers and school workers to receive at least one vaccine shot "by the end of March."
Biden can't mandate that states prioritize teachers for their vaccine supplies, but is challenging them to do so. The President will be using their federal pharmacy program to prioritize the vaccination of pre-k through 12 educators, staff and child care workers.
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