/PRNewswire/ As COVID-19 infection rates continue to fluctuate, medical experts, economists and business leaders are focusing greater attention on Long.
states are starting to turn down government shipments due to lack of demand. new cdc data shows 8% of people have missed their second shot of the moderna or pfizer vaccines. our goal by july 4th is to have 70% of adult americans with at least one shot. reporter: pfizer s emergency use authorization now clears the way for 17 million children to immediately get vaccinated. kids 12 to 15 years old, mostly middle and high school students, now qualify. if you get the shot, you basically can ditch the mask. nearly everywhere the cdc says. america is already on the pandemic rebound. new covid cases at their lowest levels since last june. last year we lost a summer because of covid, so this year it s going to be a big summer. the delta variant, first discovered in india, could soon become the dominant covid strain in the u.s. so far only about 53% of the country is partially vaccinated. but some states are barely hitting a third of their
senate. donald john trump, former president of the united states is not guilty. reporter: it was a dramatic start to a year still dominated by covid. we learned this morning that the pandemic has now taken 400,000 lives in the u.s. reporter: as the country emerged from a deadly winter, vaccines became more available, first in the most vulnerable, then to all adults, and eventually to most kids. how bad was it? not bad at all. reporter: more americans died from covid this year than last as the more contagious delta variant surged and hospitals filled again, treating mostly unvaccinated patients. now we are treating patients in the hallways. reporter: mask mandates sparked rage. unmask our children! reporter: at school board meetings. let the parents make the decisions. let the kids breathe. reporter: as classrooms cautiously returned to in-person learning.
took the oath of office in january, he s had to face challenges known and unknown. covid, afghanistan, the economy, and climate change. but with all that on the agenda, was he able to deep promises that got him elected in the first place? reporter: every president s first year in office tests the power of promise. marked with campaign pledges kept and those still unfulfilled. we re going to keep up the fight until we get it done. reporter: before joe biden was even sworn in, he knew the coronavirus pandemic would largely define the beginning of his term. to heal, we must remember. reporter: honoring the hundreds of thousands dead on the eve of his inauguration. this is democracy s day, a day of history and hope. reporter: the biden-harris administration launching a massive effort to get americans vaccinated. it s time to act.