How the US went from having one of the worst Covid responses to being a global leader in vaccinations under Biden
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For the last 100 days, President Joe Biden and his top advisers have mounted an urgent, wartime effort to get millions of coronavirus vaccines into the arms of Americans in order to beat back a pandemic that has upended the world for the better part of year
In 100 days, the US has gone from being heavily criticized for its Covid-19 response -- with over 570,000 recorded deaths, the highest number in the world -- to the envy of the world on vaccinations, with an inoculation rate more than four times the global average.
But the country is now at a tipping point. With vaccine supply secured, it's now set to outpace demand at a critical moment, with Covid-19 variants on the rise. And the Biden administration's success or failure in reaching the hesitant and convincing everyone to take the vaccine will be critical in determining whether the country can finally win the war against the virus and move forward.
The administration insisted it would always lead with the science, but the science has often moved too slowly for a public eager to get back to normal. Some critics have said the Biden team should have put out earlier guidance about travel and socializing after vaccination, as an incentive to get the shot.
More than half of adults in the US have now had at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, but reaching the second half may be much harder.
Hesitancy remains a huge hurdle to reaching herd immunity, as vaccination numbers are starting to decline. Some communities of color are skeptical, vaccinations in rural areas are lagging and half of Republican men say they won't take the vaccine.
"It's absolutely crazy," Hogan said of vaccine hesitancy among Republicans. "The only way we ever get life back to normal is if we get enough people to get that vaccine."
With all American adults now eligible for a shot, the country has reached a new phase of the vaccination effort: A massive PR campaign on social media, on TV and radio and in newspapers that enlists celebrities, politicians, doctors and local community leaders to tout the benefits and safety of the vaccine, and urge people to sign up.
"We always have to make sure that messages are tailored," Nunez-Smith said. "So that's about saying, what are your particular concerns? What misinformation often, and disinformation have you heard? And how can we debunk that?"
How the US went from having one of the worst Covid responses to being a global leader in vaccinations under Biden - CNNPolitics
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