Biden sets new goal for US vaccinations, eyes July 4 celebrations

In televised address to mark a year of the pandemic, Biden acknowledged Americans losses and offered hope for the future.

President Joe Biden said on Thursday he would direct US states to make all adults eligible for the coronavirus vaccine by May 1 as he told Americans that he was hoping the country would be able to some kind of normality by the Independence Day holiday on July 4. In a forceful but sombre speech to mark the first anniversary of the pandemic lockdown, Biden said he was working to speed up COVID-19 vaccinations, hours after signing a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill into law. The July 4 date is a new goal for the president, who has warned Americans of further pain and death from a virus that has already killed more than 530,000 people in the United States, more than any other country in the world. Coronavirus-related lockdowns and restrictions have cost millions of jobs.