US president boosts vaccine deliveries

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced that the country is ramping up deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines to hard-pressed states over the next three weeks and expects to provide enough doses to vaccinate 300 million US citizens by the end of the summer or early fall.

Biden, calling the push a "wartime effort," said the administration was working to buy an additional 100 million doses of each of the two approved vaccines. He acknowledged that states in recent weeks have been left guessing how much vaccine they will have from one week to the next.

Shortages have been so severe that some vaccination sites had to cancel tens of thousands of appointments with people seeking their first shot.

He promised a roughly 16 percent boost in deliveries to states over the next three weeks.

The administration said it plans to buy another 100 million doses each from drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna to ensure it has enough vaccine for the long term.

Even more vaccines could be available if federal scientists approve a single-dose shot from Johnson & Johnson, which is expected to seek emergency authorization in the coming weeks.

Biden's announcement came a day after he grew more bullish about exceeding his vaccine pledge to deliver 100 million injections in his first 100 days in office, suggesting that a rate of 1.5 million doses per day could soon be achieved.

Agencies via Xinhua