US: Three million vaccine doses given for two straight days

THE United States has for the first time administered more than three million doses of COVID-19 vaccine for two consecutive days, according to official figures published Sunday.

The new numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirm the growing reach and success of the US vaccine rollout.

The CDC reported 3.04 million doses had been administered in the 24 hours through Sunday morning, after 3.12 million the previous day. It said the latest seven-day average was 2.44 million doses a day.

"First time we have had 3M or more in two consecutive days. Also second consecutive day reporting more than 2M first doses per day," tweeted Cyrus Shahpar, the White House Covid-19 data director.

"Making progress!" he added.

The United States has suffered more COVID-19 deaths by far some 542,000 to date than any other country.

But it has also had one of the more successful vaccine rollouts.

The CDC said 24.5 percent of the populace has now received at least one dose, while 13.3 percent are fully vaccinated.

Among people 65 and older, 69 percent have received at least one dose.

President Joe Biden said Thursday that the country was beating by more than a month his goal of 100 million people having at least one dose within his first 100 days in office.

"We may be able to double it," he told reporters, adding that 100 million doses was "just the floor."

Three vaccines are now authorized in the United States: the two-dose regimens from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna and the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Even while many countries are still struggling to obtain vaccine supplies, the US government says it has ordered enough to be able to vaccinate all adults by the end of May.