President Joe Biden Targets 70 Percent Of US Adults Receive One Dose Of Vaccine By July 4

JAKARTA - President Joe Biden wants 70 percent of adults in the United States (US) to have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, on the upcoming July 4 Independence Day holiday.

In an announcement made on Tuesday, May 4 local time, President Biden also revealed that the government plans to immediately provide vaccines for children aged 12-15 years.

President Biden's desire remains to pay attention to the challenges of handling COVID-19 which are increasingly complex and unpredictable. These new goals include having 160 million adults fully vaccinated by the Fourth of July.

In addition, the focus of vaccination will be more on targeting rural areas and smaller vaccination sites, where mass vaccination will be closed.

"Now that we have vaccine supplies, we are focused on convincing more Americans to come and get the vaccines available to them", said Joe Biden at the White House.

"If we are successful in this effort, then the Americans will take serious steps towards getting back to normal", he continued.

Meanwhile, an administration official said at least 105 million Americans have been fully vaccinated and more than 56 percent of the 147 million adults have received at least one injection.

The United States government itself is trying to win over those who have doubts about the vaccine, including supporters of former President Donald Trump and young adults.

"There are a lot of younger people, especially those in their 20s and 30s who believe they don't need it. I want to make it absolutely clear: You do need to be vaccinated", said Biden.

Since taking office, President Biden and his team have repeatedly set goals such as getting 100 million people vaccinated during their first 100 days in office, a target that then rises to 200 million people, only to surpass them.

"One of the characteristics of Biden's COVID-19 approach is underpromising & overdeliver. So when they say they are targeting 70 percent of adults to have received at least one injection by July 4, that means they are pretty sure they can do better", wrote Dr. Robert Wachter, professor, and chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California on Twitter.

Regarding the vaccine plan for children aged 12-15 years, President Joe Biden said he was ready to give the vaccine after approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Currently, vaccines are intended for those aged 16 years and over.

"I want American parents to know that when the announcement comes, we are ready to move immediately", said President Biden.

"If FDA approval has come out, there will be 20.000 pharmacies across the United States that will function as vaccination sites", he concluded.