Biden set to push more Americans to get Covid-19 vaccine in North Carolina speech - CNN

While in Raleigh, the President will tour a mobile vaccination unit and meet with frontline workers and grassroots volunteers who are getting community members vaccinated, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Wednesday.

First lady Jill Biden is also visiting Covid-19 vaccine sites in Florida on Thursday to encourage everyone in those communities to get vaccinated, according to the White House.

The events are part of larger, administration-wide push to get more Americans vaccinated, which comes as the nation approaches Biden's July Fourth goal date of getting 70% of Americans at least one Covid-19 shot and 160 million Americans fully vaccinated. But this week, the White House has acknowledged that it will fall short of the President's goal.

In North Carolina, roughly 38.8% of residents are fully vaccinated. Nationwide, some 45.4% of the total population has been fully vaccinated, according the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters earlier this week that the country is on track to hit its July Fourth goals in the coming weeks. He said on Tuesday that Biden's Independence Day goal was "aspirational," and touted the progress the administration has made in the last several months.

Zients also said the administration is now focused on getting younger Americans, particularly 18- to 26-year-olds, vaccinated against the virus.

There's particular concern among public health officials that unvaccinated individuals will accelerate the spread of more transmissible, new variants of the virus.

"The reality is many younger Americans felt like Covid-19 is not something that impacts them and they've been less eager to get the shot. However, with the Delta variant now spreading across the country and infecting younger people worldwide, it's more important than ever that they get vaccinated," Zients said.

Vaccine coverage among young adults has been lower and increasing more slowly over time than other age groups in the United States, and the intent to be vaccinated is lower among younger adults, according to studies published Monday by the CDC.

CNN's Kate Sullivan, Kaitlan Collins and Betsy Klein contributed to this report.

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2021-06-24 17:28:00Z