More than 40 states to meet or beat May 1 vaccine eligibility goal

Officials from more than 40 states have said that they are slated to meet or beat President Biden’s May 1 deadline to expand the COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to all adults as of Wednesday, according to The New York Times.   

With the vaccination effort pressing ahead across the country, at least 30 states expect to open up vaccinations to all adults in March or April, ahead of the president’s target date, the Times reported.

Several states this week announced expansions to their eligibility requirements, including West Virginia, Arizona and Utah, which opened up to all adults. Those three states joined Alaska and Mississippi, which had already authorized vaccinations for those 16 and older. 

Other states such as Georgia and Texas declared that the vaccine will be available to all adults in the upcoming days, Georgia on Thursday and Texas on Monday. Indiana and Tennessee also said they expected eligibility to reach all adults on March 31 and April 5, respectively. 

Louisiana and Idaho officials set their expected full eligibility dates to Monday and April 5, respectively, on Wednesday. 

Officials in several states, such as New Jersey, Alabama and Minnesota, have said their states will meet Biden’s deadline without specifying a specific date. 

South Carolina is one of the states expected to miss the deadline by two days, as the Palmetto State expects all residents aged 16 and older to be eligible on “approximately May 3.” 

No other states have a projected date after Biden’s deadline for vaccines to be available to all adults, according to a list by the Kaiser Family Foundation. 

The optimistic expectations for most states comes as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that more than one-quarter of the U.S. population, amounting to more than 85 million people, have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Fourteen percent of the U.S. population, more than 46 million people, are fully vaccinated. 

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is the only one authorized by the Food and Drug Administration to go to those 16 and older, while the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are approved for those at least 18 years old.