Biden to address vaccine rates, numbers

President Biden announced Friday that over 300 million vaccine doses have been administered in the U.S for COVID-19 in his first 150 days in office.

In the press conference Friday afternoon, Biden said it was an important milestone in the fight against the pandemic.

"The vaccine did not happen on it's own. It took American scientists, the full capacity of American companies, and full federal response across federal, state and tribal governments," Biden said. "Together we built a unparalleled vaccination programs and managed one of the most biggest and most complicated logistical challenges in American history. Above all, we got here because of the American people stepping up and getting vaccinated."

The president also highlighted the vaccines success with people of color, stating that 73% of the shots administered at community health centers through the federal programs and 58% of vaccines administered through federally run vaccination sites went to people of color. 

Biden initially set a goal of vaccinating 70% of adults in America with at least one dose before the Fourth of July. Experts say this is not likely to happen, but he will come close.

Currently 65% of adults Americans have received at least one dose. Over 13 million adults will still need to be vaccinated in the next three weeks for the president to achieve his goal. If the trends continue, 67% of adults will be vaccinated with at least one dose by the Fourth of July.

The Hill reports that at least 15 states and Washington D.C. has met or exceeded the 70% goal. Additionally, over half of the U.S. states have vaccinated over half of their adult population. 

According to the New York Times, 44 U.S. states have reopened their economies, plus Washington state will reopen at the end of this month. The other states that have not reopened are Hawaii, New Mexico, Michigan and Oregon. Hawaii said they will reopen when 70% of their population 16 years and over have received the vaccine.

The president ended his speech urging more Americans to get vaccinated.