President Biden to ramp up vaccination efforts, 100 million shots in 100 days ‘not the end point’

Biden said he intends to order 100 million more doses each of the Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccines, in a push to vaccinate the US population as quickly as possible. "We will both increase the supply in the short term by more than 15 percent, an give our states and local partners more certainty about when our deliveries will arrive," Biden said to a group of reporters.

"These two steps are going to help increase our prospects of hitting or exceeding the ambitious goal of 100 million shots in 100 days," he continued, and added that reaching the goal was not the endpoint, but only the start.

Biden forecasted that the coronavirus scenario will continue to get worse before things turn for the better. "Things are going to continue to get worse before they get better. The death toll, experts tell us, is likely to top 500,000 by February, and cases will continue to mount," Biden explained. "It's going to take months for us to turn this around."

The President added that as many as 200 million additional doses could be on the way for Americans soon. "We believe that we'll soon be able to confirm the purchase of an additional 100 million doses for each of the two FDA authorized vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna," he added.

He concluded saying that he hopes his plan succeeds enough so that by the summer there is a surplus of vaccines.