Dentists and vets will be able to administer vaccine, Biden announces in first nationwide address

President hopes expanding list of vaccination professionals will help speed up process nationwide

Dentists and vets will be able to administer the Covid vaccine, Joe Biden announced in his first nationwide address as president.

Mr Biden also announced that he is ordering all states to open up vaccine eligibility to all adults by 1 May.

The president used 4 July as a target date for all Americans to be able to gather in small groups of family and friends.

Mr Biden’s address to the nation came just hours after he signed into law a $1.9 trillion stimulus package.

He laid out the steps the administration believes will make the 1 May date achievable, including expanding the types of professionals able to administer vaccine shots.

Dentists, veterinarians and paramedics will all be included in the new approved list.

More than 29.3 million Americans have tested positive for Covid during the pandemic, and 530,000 deaths have been caused by the virus.

Ahead of the address Mr Biden took to Twitter to post an emotional video about the impact of the pandemic on American life and how the country will rally from it.

“The last year has tested us in unimaginable ways, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. We will emerge stronger,” he tweeted.