President Joe Biden at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, February 11, 2021 (Carlos Barria/Reuters)

The Biden Administration announces arrangements for 200 million more doses of vaccine by the end of July, ensuring coverage for 300 million Americans.

President Joe Biden noted that every US adult can be inoculated, but pointed to the “gigantic” challenge after the failures of the Trump Administration.

Speaking at the National Institutes of Health, Biden explained:

It’s one thing to have the vaccine, it’s another thing to have vaccinators….

It was a big mess. It’s going to take time to fix, to be blunt with you. While scientists did their job in discovering vaccines in record time, my predecessor — I’ll be very blunt about it — did not do his job in getting ready for the massive challenge of vaccinating hundreds of millions.

The US death toll reached 475,291 on Thursday, with 3,878 added in 24 hours. Confirmed cases are 27,390,550, a rise of 105,515.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, Biden’s top Coronavirus advisor, looked to an “open season” in which any American adult could seek a vaccination.

However, the logistical challenge was highlighted on Thursday when the city of Los Angeles announced that it will temporarily close five of its inoculation sites because of a shortage of doses.

The closures include Dodger Stadium, one of the largest US sites.

Mayor Eric Garcetti said that, with supply of the Moderna vaccine exhausted for first-dose appointments, the centers will be closed on Friday and Saturday with plans to reopen by Tuesday or Wednesday.

We’re vaccinating people faster than new vials are arriving here in Los Angeles. I’m concerned as your mayor that our vaccine supply is uneven, it’s unpredictable and too often inequitable.

During his visit to the National Institutes of Health, Biden assured, “We’re not going to have everything fixed for a while, but we’re going to fix it.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 34.7 million people have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, with about 11.2 million people fully vaccinated.