Will The U.S. Meet Its July 4 Vaccination Goal? Your State May Already Have

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🗓️ 17 June 2021

⏱️ 13 minutes

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Summary

Last month, President Biden laid out an ambitious goal: to get 70% of adults in the U.S. at least one vaccine dose by July 4. With less than three weeks to go, that goal may too ambitious, Harvard epidemiologist Bill Hanage tells NPR, and some states may see localized outbreaks this year.

Still — nearly two dozen states have already exceeded the 70% threshold. Many are clustered in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, while states with the lowest rates are largely in the South and Southwest. But there is one exception: New Mexico — where some counties report vaccination rates as high as 90%. NPR's Kirk Siegler explains why.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The US, far and away, leads the world in pandemic deaths.
0:04.4	The official count is now more than 600,000.
0:07.4	We reached that milestone this week, but also this week,
0:11.0	right here in the world's hardest hit country,
0:13.8	the two hardest hit states reopened.
0:16.7	You are hearing 52,000 maskless fans at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where I am.
0:24.7	The sold-out crowd watched the home team win on reopening day,
0:28.7	as California lifted most COVID restrictions.
0:47.2	California made the move after reaching the point where 70% of its adult population
0:51.2	had at least one shot of the vaccine.
0:55.2	And in New York, a huge celebration to that across New York state fireworks lighting up the night.
1:01.6	Governor Andrew Cuomo said New York also reached the 70% milestone,
1:06.3	70% of adults with at least one shot.
1:08.8	It is the national goal and we hit it ahead of schedule.
1:16.2	Now that's 70% goal, of course, was set by President Biden for the entire country by July 4th.
1:22.3	Over a dozen states, including New York and California, are already there.
1:27.2	On the other hand, I think that it's important to remember that there are going to be some people
1:30.4	who are not vaccinated.
1:31.6	And we want to be able to protect them for as long as possible until we get vaccination levels really high.
1:36.6	Harvard epidemiologist Bill Hanage told MPR this week that America's progress is worth celebrating.
1:43.2	But there are still plenty of people in America who live in places without high levels of vaccination.
1:49.5	Many of them in communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
	...

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