- President Joe Biden promised that 100 million vaccines would be administered to Americans by his 100th day in office. He has already reached that goal on Day 58. [NBC News / Lauren Egan]
- Under President Trump, the nation was vaccinating about 1 million people per day, making Biden’s original goal relatively tame. Under the Biden administration, as the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been approved and distribution has picked up, about 2.5 million shots are being administered per day. [Politico / Brianna Ehley]
- Sixty-five percent of seniors — people 65 and over — have received at least one dose, with 36 percent fully vaccinated. The president said continuing to vaccinate teachers and essential workers will be important in the month to come before the vaccine becomes more widely available. [CBS News / Kathryn Watson]
- The seven-day case average is currently 55,740 cases — the lowest it has been since early October. But with Europe experiencing a third wave, Biden emphasized Americans need to continue to wear masks and follow social distancing guidelines. [The Washington Post / Erin Cunningham, Paulina Firozi, and Paulina Villegas]
- There are still some notable causes for concern in the vaccination campaign, which is now turning to confidence challenges rather than distribution or supply. More than a third of frontline health care workers, for example, have not gotten the vaccine because they do not feel confident in it. [USA Today / Elinor Aspegren and Adrianna Rodriguez]
- Vaccine confidence also remains relatively low among supporters of former President Donald Trump. He endorsed the vaccine — albeit uninspiringly — saying he recommends his supporters get it while also affirming “our freedoms.” [NPR / Alana Wise]
- In total, more than 115 million doses of the vaccine have been administered to 75 million Americans. [Live Science / Nicoletta Lanese]
- The US will also send 2.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccines to Mexico and 1.5 million to Canada. The US has come under criticism for holding onto the AstraZeneca vaccines, which have not been approved for American use, while other regions of the world lag in access to vaccines. [CNN / Eliza Mackintosh]
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