White House: 100 million Americans now fully vaccinated

The White House announced Friday that 100 million Americans are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, hailing it as a major achievement in the ongoing vaccination campaign.

“Today we reached a major milestone in the number of Americans who are fully vaccinated,” White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said at a briefing. “Today, 100 million Americans are fully vaccinated, nearly double the 55 million who were fully vaccinated at the end of March.”

He said over 300 million doses have been shipped, and 220 million shots are in arms. “This represents significant progress and cause for hope,” he said.

Still, the next phase of the vaccination campaign will be challenging, as it moves toward trying to reach people who are less eager for the vaccine.

Zients emphasized that officials will be working to make it even easier to get a shot, and building confidence in the vaccine. For example, officials in many places are allowing people to get a shot without an appointment as supply increases.

Zients has acknowledged that the vaccination rate will “moderate and fluctuate” going forward. After rising for weeks, the average daily vaccination rate has begun falling somewhat, down from a high of 3.38 million on April 13, to about 2.6 million on Thursday, according to figures from Our World in Data.

About 55 percent of U.S. adults now have at least one dose of the vaccine, and about 40 percent are fully vaccinated.