Joe Biden affirms 'COVID vaccines are safe', urges everyone to get themselves inoculated

President Joe Biden has appealed to the citizens of the United States to get themselves vaccinated when their turn comes in order to counter the Coronavirus Pandemic which has affected the US the most. After touring the Pfizer manufacturing plant in Michigan, the US president, in an attempt to ward off apprehensions, assured the citizens that the vaccines are safe.

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US nears 500,000 COVID deaths

The United States, which is the worst affected country across the world, is nearing the figure of five lakh deaths due to the Covid-19 pandemic. At present, the country has reported 499,128 deaths according to John Hopkins University. The country has recorded over 28 million Covid-19 infections as of date, with over 69,000 fresh cases on Sunday and a seven day average of over 67,000 cases fresh cases, according to the New York Times data.

After the first death due to COVID-19 in February 2020, the US reached the 100,000 mark in just four months, while the 200,000 mark was breached in September and the 300,000 in December. Then it took just over a month to go from 300,000 to 400,000 and about two months to climb from 400,000 to 500,000 mark.

Biden has pledged to vaccinate 100 million Americans in the first 100 days of his governance and distribute at least 600 million doses by July 29. The President has also vowed to work in collaboration with the American multinational pharmaceutical giant Pfizer that will help the former achieve his goal of vaccinating maximum Americans in the next few months. 

The freezing weather and snowstorms that hit the United States for over a week have slowed the delivery of the vaccines, with some six million doses delayed and 1.4 million doses are already in transit. The delayed doses are said to reach next week. The United States is on the verge of a supply breakthrough as manufacturing ramps up and with the expectation of a third vaccine becoming available in the coming weeks.

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