Biden to announce all US adults will be eligible for coronavirus vaccine by April 19

President Biden plans to announce Tuesday that he is moving up his target for all American adults to become eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine by almost two weeks to April 19, according to a White House official.

Biden is also expected to announce that the United States has administered 150 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, the official confirmed, putting the president on track to meet or exceed his goal of administering 200 million doses in his first 100 days in office.

CNN first reported Biden’s planned announcements on Tuesday. The president is scheduled to visit a vaccination site at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Va. Tuesday afternoon before returning to the White House to give remarks on the state of vaccinations.

Biden said during his first primetime address last month that he would urge states to make all adults eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine by May 1. Biden previously said 90 percent of adults would be eligible by April 19.

The new target comes as the U.S. is steadily ramping up the amount of daily vaccinations. The Biden administration announced over the weekend that the U.S. hit 4 million doses in a 24-hour period for the first time.

Roughly a dozen states have already made anyone aged 16 and older eligible to sign up and receive a coronavirus vaccine, and more states are likely to do so in the coming days as vaccine supplies steadily become more available. Biden’s announcement is likely to put pressure on states that have moved more slowly to open up vaccine appointments to a wider swath of adults.