If the U.S. maintains its current pace of vaccinations, the country could theoretically reach President Biden’s goal of having 70% of adults receive at least one shot by July 4, according to a Fox News analysis, however, data suggests the trends may be slowing.
As of June 7, data suggests 63.7% of adults were partially vaccinated. Data from archive.org indicates a jump of 5.7% and 12.1% of additional adults who received one dose over approximately the last two months. In other words, while 45.9% of adults were partially vaccinated by April 12, the figure climbed to 58% of adults by May 10.
In an effort to boost vaccination numbers, Biden last week declared June a “national month of action” and urged Americans to get their shot. He unveiled a five-part plan to reach his goal, which includes steps for easier access and incentives, such as free food, beer and sports tickets.
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Dr. Anthony Fauci, Biden’s chief medical adviser, said during a White House briefing Tuesday that efforts will extend beyond July 4 as the vaccination drive continues, albeit at a slower pace.
“When goals are set, they’re set to be able to stimulate us to get to that goal,” Fauci said. “If you don’t meet the precise goal and you fall short by a few percent, that doesn’t mean you stop in your effort to get people vaccinated, we have always held that July 4 is not the end of it. We want to reach 70% of the adult population by the Fourth of July. I believe we can, I hope we will and if we don’t, we’re going to continue to keep pushing.”
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But Biden is also aiming to see 160 million Americans fully vaccinated by July 4. According to a Fox News analysis, if the U.S. maintains its current pace of vaccinations, the country is likely to fall short of this goal.
The current pace suggests the U.S. could see approximately 150.4 million vaccinated adults, missing the goal by roughly 10 million people with completed vaccination series.
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“The consequences, we all know, it’s a fact, if you don’t get vaccinated, you are at risk. If you get vaccinated you dramatically, dramatically diminish the risk of getting infected, and almost eliminate the risk of serious disease, why it’s so, so important for all of us to seriously consider vaccination,” Fauci said.
Fox News’ Alexandria Hein, Paul Steinhauser and Emily Reynolds contributed to this report.