UPDATE - US to miss Biden's July 4 vaccination goals despite push

ADDS ADDITIONAL COMMENTS IN GRAFS 8-9

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US will fail to hit key July 4 vaccination goals established by President Joe Biden despite significant progress in getting shots in arms, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator said Tuesday.

Biden had sought to have 70% of adult Americans receive at least one shot by the July 4 holiday and have 160 million Americans fully vaccinated by Independence Day.

But Jeff Zients acknowledged the aspirational goals will not be met, in part because young adults between the ages of 18 and 26 have lagged behind those 27 and older in getting vaccinated.

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

Adults 27 and older will meet Biden's goal of getting at least one shot by the end of the July 4 holiday weekend, and "it will take a few extra weeks to get to 70%" with adults 18-26 factored in, said Zients.

On the president's second goal of getting 160 million Americans fully vaccinated, Zients said that would happen "no later than mid-July."

To date, 65.4% of adults have received at least one shot and about 150 million are fully vaccinated, according to data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There continues to be extreme disparities among states in vaccine acceptance with 16 and Washington, D.C. surpassing Biden's 70% goal. But four states have vaccinated less than half of their populations, according to White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Fauci described the growing Delta Variant, which originated in India, as the "greatest threat” facing the nation. The variant accounts for roughly 20% of cases in the US and continues to double roughly every two weeks.