This Tuesday President Biden moved vaccine eligibility for all adults to April 19th— previously May 1st— giving hopes to the CDC’s forecast of reaching herd immunity by the end of June. This means that over 70% of the population should be immune to COVID-19 by mid-summer either through vaccination or natural infection.

 The new deadline will represent challenges in the distribution and administration of the vaccine as millions of new doses will have to be produced sooner to keep up with the demand.

 As of now, more than 90 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine and roughly 3 million doses are being administered daily across the country.

 CDC’s data reflects a constant increase in the number of doses administered each week, passing from 17 million doses distributed in the first week of March, to 23 million in the first week of April. Given the fact that all adults will be eligible for vaccination from April 19th, the number of doses administered each week is likely to increase even more.

 But it is still uncertain whether current vaccines will be effective against new strains of COVID-19, and experts, such as Dr. Fauci, recommend the use of face masks even after herd immunity is reached. 

In a senate hearing on March 19th, Senator Dr. Rand Paul (R-KY) sparred with Dr. Anthony Fauci over the necessity of wearing face masks. In the hearing, Sen. Paul cited a study that found evidence that vaccinated or recovered individuals have protection against COVID-19 variants. 

As American Pigeon has previously reported, according to the CDC, the COVID-19 vaccine “works by teaching your immune system how to recognize and fight the virus that causes COVID-19, and this protects you from getting sick with COVID-19.”

Mateo Garces Jimenez, News Desk Intern at CNBC