US reaches 70 percent vaccination goal—about a month after Biden’s target

The White House on Monday said 70 percent of adults have received at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, almost a month after President Biden‘s original goal of reaching that mark by July 4.

The vaccination campaign has slowed compared to the spring months, as hesitancy and even resistance to the vaccine has created a major obstacle for public health officials. But vaccination numbers are starting to tick up amid new outbreaks fueled by the highly contagious delta variant of COVID-19.

The seven-day average of newly vaccinated people is the highest since July 4, White House COVID-19 data director Cyrus Shahpar said on Monday.

Figures ticking up: The country is averaging about 660,000 vaccinations per day, according to Our World in Data, up from about 500,000 on July 20.

Still, that figure is well below the peak from April, when the country was averaging more than 3 million shots per day.