Fauci: 100 million vaccinations in 100 days 'doable'

Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Sunday that Biden's goal of administering 100 million coronavirus vaccines in 100 days "is absolutely a doable thing."

"One thing that’s clear is that the issue of getting 100 million doses in the first 100 days is absolutely a doable thing," Fauci said in an appearance on NBC, Global News reports. "The feasibility of his goal is absolutely clear. There’s no doubt about that, that that can be done"

Fauci also suggested that the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines could be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) "very soon." "We’re weeks away, not months away, for sure," Fauci assured.

"If we can get the overwhelming majority of the population vaccinated, we’d be in very good shape and could beat even the mutant," he continued, referring to new mutated variants of coronavirus which have emerged in countries such as Britain and South Africa. The new variants appear to be more contagious while remaining just as lethal.

The United States is currently ranked fifth in the world for coronavirus vaccines administered per capita, behind countries such as Israel and the United Kingdom. Despite their relative success, the country has only vaccinated half the number of people which the Trump administration had hoped for by 2021.

Meanwhile, Joe Biden has said that ramping up coronavirus vaccinations would be one of the top priorities of his presidency when he enters office on Jan 20. It is unclear how Biden will increase the speed of vaccinations.

The United States has recorded over 23 million cases of coronavirus and nearly 400,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.