Biden warns of complacency as he announces new vaccination targets

‘We’re still in a life-and-death race against this virus’

Joe Biden asked Americans to keep their guard up as he moved forward the deadline for widespread access to the Covid-19 vaccines.

The president announced on Tuesday that all adults in the US would be eligible for a vaccine by 19 April, two weeks earlier than the previous deadline of 1 May.

“No more confusing rules. No more confusing restrictions,” Mr Biden said.

Speaking at a vaccination site at the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Mr Biden said 150 million does have already been administered during his presidency. That makes a total of 169 million when counting doses administered before he took office, according to the CDC.

The US was administering an average of three million vaccine shots per day and more than 20 million per week, Mr Biden said. More than 75 per cent of people older than 65 have received at least one shot of the vaccine and more than 55 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Read more:

• Hunter Biden news - live: President’s son’s book details addiction battle
• Trump plummets 300 spots on Forbes billionaires list
• Hunter Biden opens up on affair with brother’s widow: ‘It came out of overwhelming grief’
• Texas Governor Greg Abbott issues executive order banning Biden’s vaccine passports

Despite the accelerated timeline for vaccinating the full population of the country, Mr Biden said no one will be safe until everyone is fully vaccinated.

"Despite the progress we're making as a nation, I want every American to know in no uncertain terms, that this fight isn't over. This progress we've worked so hard to achieve can be reversed. Now's not the time to let down. Now's not the time to celebrate," he said.

"We can't let up now. My hope is, before the summer's over, I'm talking to you all about how we have even access to more vaccines than we need to take care of every American and we're helping other poor countries, countries around the world that don't have the money, the time, the expertise, because until this vaccine is available to the world, and we're beating back the vaccine, the virus, in other countries, we're not really completely safe."

According to The New York Times Covid tracking database, at least 530 new coronavirus deaths and 76,624 new cases were reported in the United States on Monday. The past week has seen a 20 per cent increase in the average new cases per day from two weeks earlier.

Mr Biden said the virus continues to spread because too many people think they’re already at the finish line.

“But let me be deadly earnest with you: We aren’t at the finish line. We still have a lot of work to do. We’re still in a life-and-death race against this virus," he said.