President Joe Biden is in danger of missing two of his major COVID targets in the coming weeks - a 70 per cent vaccination rate in the United States by July 4th and sending 80 million vaccine doses worldwide by the end of June.
Biden has touted a return to normalcy for Americans on Independence Day and is planning a massive gathering on the South Lawn of the White House to celebrate.
But, as his plans roll forward for 1,000 essential workers and military families to join him at the White House while thousands more gather on the National Mall to watch a fireworks display, the vaccination rate in the US has slowed to a level that threatens to derail his target.
The administration also has bragged about its commitment to the global fight against COVID with its vaccine donations. On Monday it announced destinations for 55 million doses of the vaccine with focuses on Latin America, South American, Asia and Africa.
On Monday the White House announced destinations for 55 million doses of the COVID vaccine with focuses on Latin America, South American, Asia and Africa
But fewer than 10 million doses of the COVID vaccine have been shipped, including 2.5 million doses delivered to Taiwan over the weekend and about 1 million doses delivered to Mexico, Canada and South Korea earlier this month, the Associated Press found.
President Joe Biden is in danger of missing two of his major COVID targets in the coming weeks
The White House has down played the possible missed deadlines.
Press secretary Jen Psaki blamed logistical challenges for the delay in getting doses of the vaccine overseas, including customs, language barriers and shipping issues.
'What we found to be the biggest challenge is not actually the supply. We have plenty of doses to share with the world, but this is a Herculean logistical challenge and we've seen that as we've begun to implement,' Psaki said at her press briefing on Monday.
'When we work with countries, we need to ensure that there's safety and regulatory information is shared. Some supply teams need needles, syringes and alcohol pads. Transportation needs teams need to ensure that there are proper temperature storage prep prevent breakage and ensure the vaccine immediately clears customs, so this has not as you all know, been done before. Sometimes it's even language barriers that occur as we're working to get these doses out to countries,' she said.
Last week the World Health Organization warned that the global spread of the coronavirus is moving faster than worldwide distribution of the vaccine.
More than 3.8 million people have died from COVID across the globe since the beginning of the pandemic.
Domestically, Psaki also down played the slow down in vaccination rates in the United States, particularly in the South.
Currently, 54% of the American population has had at least one shot of the COVID vaccine while 46% of the population is fully vaccinated, according to CDC data. The
