of administering 100 million shots for the virus in the first 100 days of our office 100 million
shots in 100 days it was considered ambitious some even suggested it was somewhat audacious
experts said that it was the plan was quote definitely aggressive and distribution would
have to be seamless for us to be successful one headline simply put it quote it won't be easy end
of quote well it wasn't when i took office when we took office there was a lot that had to be
done we needed more vaccines more vaccinators more places for people to get vaccinated and
we needed a whole government approach so i directed jeff science the coordinator of our
cova 19 response to put us on a war footing and i meant that in a literal sense to get us on track
to truly beat this virus and i'm proud to announce that tomorrow 58 days into our administration
we will have met my goal of ministering 100 million shots to our fellow americans that's weeks
ahead of schedule and even with the setbacks we face during the winter storms and there's another
big step on the path to checking the putting checks in pockets and shots in people's arms
when we cross the 50 million doses just three weeks ago i told you that every time we hit
the 15 million mark i'd update you on our progress so here's where we are today eight
weeks ago only eight percent of seniors those most vulnerable to cova 19 had received a vaccination
today 65 percent of people aged 65 or older have received at least one shot and 36 percent
are fully vaccinated and that's key because this is the population that represents 80 percent
of the well over 500 000 cova 19 deaths that have occurred in america
we have nearly double the amount of vaccine doses that we distribute to states tribes
and territories each week we have gone from one million shots a day that i promised in december
before we're even sworn in to an average of two and one half million shots a day
outpacing the rest of the world significantly and here's how we accomplish this
using the power given to a president under the defense production act we expedited
critical materials in vaccine production such as equipment machinery and supplies
we work with vaccine manufacturers to speed up the delivery of millions more doses
and brokered a historic manufacturing partnership between competing companies who put patriotism on
public health first these steps put us on track to have enough vaccine enough vaccine supply
for every adult american by the end of may months months earlier than anyone expected
and we stood up or supplied more than 600 community vaccination sites that are
administering hundreds of thousands of shots per day we launched the federal pharmacy program which
has allowed millions of americans to get a shot at one of one thousand assuming one of 14 000
local pharmacies in this country the same way they get their flu shot
and for folks who aren't near pharmacy or mass vaccination center we've supplied more than
500 mobile clinics like pop-up sites or vans meeting people where they are meeting people
where they are we've developed nearly we deployed nearly 6 000 federal personnel including fema
active duty military and department of health and human services to support
vaccinations and serve as vaccinators putting the needle in people's arms we're also supplying
vaccines to community health centers to reach those who have been the hardest hit
the hardest hit and suffered the most especially black latino native american and rural communities
this is really important because we believe that speed and efficiency must be matched with fairness
and equity now when president harris and i took a virtual tour of a vaccination center in arizona
not long ago one of the nurses on that on that tour injecting people giving vaccinations
said that each shot was like administering a dose of hope a dose of hope that's how she phrased it
behind these 100 million shots our millions of lives change when people receive that dose of hope
grandparents can hug their grandchildren again front line workers
who can show up at their jobs without the same fear they used to have teachers with
the confidence to head back into the classroom these milestones are significant accomplishments
but we have much more to do much more to do and the american rescue plan will help us do it
in addition to the cash payments it provides to you and your families it also provides
the funds to add vaccinators to supply more community vaccinations support more community
vaccination centers and increase testing it'll help us accelerate nationwide efforts
to reopen our schools safely and as i told the nation last week i've directed all states
tribes and territories to make all adults eligible to be vaccinated no later than may the first
i'm glad to see that several states are already taking that step to make more and more americans
eligible even before may 1st tomorrow we will hit 100 million doses our administration has
administered but always said that's just the floor we will not stop until we beat this pandemic
next week i will announce our next goal to put shots in arms this is a time for optimism
but it's not a time for relaxation i need all americans i need all of you to do your part
wash your hands stay socially distanced keep masking up as recommended by the cdc
and get vaccinated when it's your turn now's not the time to let down our guard
in the last week we've seen increases the number of cases in several states
scientists have made clear that things may get worse as new variants of this virus spread
getting vaccinated is the best thing we can do to fight back against these variants
while millions of people are vaccinated we need millions more to be vaccinated and again
i need you to get vaccinated when it comes when your term and you're able to do that i need your
help i need you to help not just the country but your family your friends your neighbors
get them vaccinated as well if we keep our guard up stick together and stick with the science
we can look forward to a fourth of july that feels a bit more normal with small groups able
to gather for cookouts and backyards and when we where we begin to declare our independence
on independence day from the virus look together together we're going to come through this stronger
with renewed faith in each other and our government that fulfills this most important
function protecting the american people let me be clear again wearing this mask in the meantime
making sure you wash your hands making sure you socially distance listen to the cdc
we've got to reach the point where we have herd immunity meaning where we have a vast
majority of the american people have been vaccinated before we can stop wearing these
so please please don't let what happened you see happening in europe when you see on television
keep the faith keep wearing the mask keep washing your hands and keep socially distance
we're going to beat this we're way ahead of schedule but we've got a long way to go i
just wanted to bring you up to date i thank you very much and god bless america may god protect
our troops thank you so much mr president vladimir putin wants open talks would you agree to that
your reaction is a photo of children in the border detention center
thank you
actually