As a candidate for president, Joe Biden promised to get control of the COVID-19 pandemic with robust federal intervention and oversight–two qualities the Trump administration did not believe were necessary.

Days before being sworn in, Biden outlined details of a plan to vaccinate 100 million Americans in his first 100 days in office.

As over 27 million Americans have now contracted the virus and almost half a million have died, President Biden made a bold announcement on Thursday.

Through securing 100 million doses each from drug manufacturers Pfizer and Moderna, the United States will be able to inoculate every American by July.

Speaking at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the president explained the purchases will increase supply 600 million doses–50 percent:

 “While scientists did their job in discovering vaccines in record time, my predecessor-– I’ll be very blunt about it-– did not do his job in getting ready for the massive challenge of vaccinating hundreds of millions. We’ve now purchased enough vaccine to vaccinate all Americans.”

He added:

“It may not sound like the urgent progress we need, but let’s be clear. When I took office just three weeks ago, this country did not have a plan or enough vaccines, or people, to vaccinate Americans.”

When Biden took office, states were averaging close to 900,000 vaccinations per day.

That has now increased to nearly 1.5 million a day.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirms that, as of Thursday, more than 46 million doses have already been administered and more than 68 million have been distributed to states.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to review later this month, requires only one dose and is more stable than the Pfizer and Moderna doses currently being administered.

But even with vaccination, Biden urged continued social distancing and masking, proclaiming:

“Mask up, America. Mask up.”

Image credit: Flickr