Trump has already met Biden’s COVID-19 target

President Biden’s “war effort” goal of vaccinating 100 million people against COVID-19 in 100 days is based on a daily average that was repeatedly exceeded under former President Donald Trump.

Biden’s first full day in office Thursday saw 1.3 million Americans vaccinated against the deadly coronavirus, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News.

But the same figures show that 1.3 million vaccines were given on January 11 and 1.1 million were given on January 14 and 16.

Vaccinations also hit an all-time high, 1.6 million on Wednesday, when Biden was sworn in, the data showed.

Since his inauguration on Wednesday, the new commander-in-chief and his main spokesperson have been repeatedly pressed by journalists to find out if he is setting his vaccination target too low.

At a White House press conference Friday, press secretary Jen Psaki was reminded that before Trump stepped down, the average number of vaccinations last week was 912,497 – just below of Biden’s goal.

“Given the urgent need for vaccinations, why not aim higher?” asked a reporter.

Psaki referred to the vaccination plan Biden announced early last month, when he swore it would be the “most effective” in American history.

“We set this target before any American received a single shot,” Psaki said.

“So the new Biden administration felt it was important to set what was described as a bold and ambitious goal at the time, and many doubted we could even get there.

The response largely echoed the words of his boss, who growled Thursday night at a White House reporter who questioned whether his plan was ambitious enough.

“That’s basically where the United States is right now,” the reporter noted as Biden finished a briefing in which he warned that it would take months to get the majority of Americans vaccinated.

“When I announced it, you all said it wasn’t possible,” Biden snapped. “Come on, give me a break, man!” It’s a good start.

In his Friday briefing, Psaki also said the new administration was still trying to find its ‘sea foot’ and blamed the operational challenges on the outgoing Trump administration.

“We want to define our own markers and markers for the American public to know that we are achieving our goal. If we get past that, that’s great, ”she said of the 100-day goal.

So far, 37.9 million pictures of the newly approved miracle jabs have been distributed nationwide, but only 17.5 million have been administered, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

On Thursday, Biden released a sweeping plan he described as a “full scale war effort” to defeat the pandemic by invoking the Defense Production Act to increase vaccine production and establishing funded vaccination sites. by the federal government across the country.

Many states are still calling for doses of the wonder drug. In New York City, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio both warned their closets would be empty by Friday.