President Biden unveiled two more ambitious targets in the national vaccine rollout Monday while urging Americans not to let down their guards.
"By April 19th, three weeks from today, 90% of adults - people 18 and over - will be eligible to get vaccinated. 90% of all Americans will be living within five miles of a place they can get a shot," said Biden of the "90/90" plan.
It is even more ambitious than his goal, announced three weeks ago, to make all adults eligible for the vaccine by May 1.
He said it is possible because manufacturers continue to ramp up the supply with 33 million doses going out to states this week, a new record.
Three weeks from now, Biden said that 40,000 pharmacies will be giving out vaccine doses, more than double the current number.
Federal officials also plan to open another 12 mass vaccination sites like the one at the Oakland Coliseum.
"There is nothing, nothing this country cannot do if we put our minds to it and we do it together," he said.
But the optimism was tempered by an urgent call for Americans not to celebrate the end of the pandemic too early.
"Our work is far from over. The war against COVID-19 is far from won. This is deadly serious," said Biden, echoing a message delivered Monday morning by Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the CDC.
"Right now, I'm scared," she said. "I so badly want to be done, I know you all so badly want to be done. We are just almost there, but not quite yet, and so I'm asking you to just hold on a little longer."
Virus cases last week were up by about 10% over the week before, with 60,000 cases per day. Hospitalizations and deaths are also starting to tick back up.
Nearly 1,000 Americans are still dying every day from the virus.
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"With vaccines there’s hope…but people are letting up on precautions," said Biden, who added that "we’re giving up hard fought, hard won gains" because of the carelessness of some.
He also urged state and local leaders and business owners to reinstate mask mandates.
"The failure to take this seriously is precisely what got us into this mess in the first place," said the president, referring to masking as a patriotic duty.
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