Joe Biden to announce all Americans eligible for COVID vaccine by April 19: Report

CNN reported that Joe Biden was shifting the deadline for full eligibility from May 1 to April 19 after rapid progress in all 50 states in the vaccine rollouts.

AFP
April 06, 2021 / 07:45 PM IST

Source: Reuters

President Joe Biden is reportedly set to announce on Tuesday that all adult Americans across the country will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccines by April 19 -- well ahead of the already ambitious previous target.

CNN reported that Biden was shifting the deadline for full eligibility from May 1 to April 19 after rapid progress in all 50 states in the vaccine rollouts.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.

If the target is met, this would mean an end to restrictions by age, health issues or other categories for people wanting to get coronavirus vaccines. It would not necessarily mean that anyone could get a shot immediately, as distribution remains a work in progress.

Biden was scheduled to visit a vaccination site in Virginia, just outside of Washington, on Tuesday, before delivering remarks on the topic at the White House.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

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How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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The Democrat immediately put mass vaccinations at the center of his agenda after taking office in a bid to quickly halt the pandemic and launch the US economy into a powerful comeback.

An initial goal of administering one million vaccine doses every day has long been surpassed and on Monday senior White House pandemic advisor Andy Slavitt said the United States is "now averaging 3.1 million shots per day over the most recent seven-day period."

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"Over the weekend, there were more than 4 million recorded vaccinations in a single day for the first time," he said.

Rochelle Walensky, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned however that new cases are rising again, as people -- especially youths -- let down their guard.

"We are seeing this occur predominantly in younger adults," Walensky said Monday.

"Many of these, as I noted, are related to extracurricular activities and youth sports."

Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here.
AFP
TAGS: #coronavirus #COVID-19 vaccine #Health #Joe Biden #United States #World News
first published: Apr 6, 2021 07:41 pm