Most Biden-won states to meet July 4 COVID-19 vaccine goal: analysis

Almost all of the states won by President Biden in the 2020 election are on track to meet his goal of a minimum of 70 percent of adults with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by July 4, according to an analysis published Saturday by CNN. 

While vaccination rates have slowed nationally, roughly 69.9 percent of adults in the average Biden-won state have received at least one dose of one of the vaccines approved for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

CNN reported that in states former President Trump won, an average of about 54.9 percent of adults have gotten at least one shot, with no states won by Trump having at least 67 percent of adults with a minimum of one coronavirus vaccine dose. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) coronavirus vaccine data map, Vermont has the highest percentage of U.S. adults 18 and older with at least one dose at about 83.1 percent, followed by Massachusetts and Connecticut. 

Other blue states, including California, Pennsylvania and New Mexico, each have at least 71 percent of their adult population with at least one shot, according to Friday CDC data. 

In total, 13 of the 25 states Biden won in November have already reached the 70 percent threshold with a little more than three weeks left until Independence Day. 

However, some states that Biden won in 2020 by a close margin appear not as likely to meet the president’s July 4 vaccine goal, including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin. 

The vaccine gap between blue and red states comes as it appears increasingly unlikely that the U.S. will achieve Biden’s July 4 goal nationally, with roughly 64 percent of the U.S. adult population receiving at least one dose as of Friday. 

About 54 percent of U.S. adults ages 18 and older have been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. 

Seattle this week became the first major U.S. city to reach 70 percent of residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19, meaning at least two weeks have passed since their final dose. 

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan (D) announced the milestone Wednesday, adding that the city had surpassed San Francisco, which was previously leading the country in vaccination rates. 

As Biden is faced with declining vaccine demand across the country, especially in Republican-dominated states, the White House is also facing pressure to provide more resources to lower-income countries who are struggling to inoculate their populations. 

Biden has committed the U.S. to donating 500 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to countries across the globe. The World Health Organization has estimated that it will take roughly 11 billion vaccine doses to inoculate 70 percent of the world population.