Over 70 percent of Californians 12 and older are at least partially vaccinated, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced on Tuesday.
“Over 70% of Californians 12 and older have now received at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine,” the Democrat governor announced.
According to the state’s dashboard, over 19 million statewide are considered “fully vaccinated,” and nearly 3.5 million are considered “partially vaccinated.”
The news comes as the Biden administration admits that it will likely not reach its 70 percent vaccination goal before the Fourth of July, despite the White House’s recent efforts to encourage mass vaccinations across the board. Efforts included teaming up with Snapchat, encouraging young teens to get vaccinated.
During Tuesday’s White House coronavirus task force meeting, Biden’s coronavirus adviser, Jeff Zeints, blamed young people, particularly 18-26-year-olds, for falling short.
“Where the country has more work to do is particularly with 18- to 26-year-olds,” he stated. “The reality is many younger Americans have felt like COVID-19 is not something that impacts them and they’ve been less eager to get the shot.”
“It’s now more important than ever for them to get vaccinated,” Zients continued, using the Delta variant as a reason to convince young people to get the vaccine. “Our work doesn’t stop at July Fourth or when we hit 70 percent.”
It is a similar argument to the one Biden used on the infamous Snapchat filter, telling the audience that virus variants are “affecting young people” but failing to provide details.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) June 22 data, over 150 million people are considered “fully vaccinated,” comprising 45.2 percent of the total U.S. population. Over 177 million have had at least one dose, representing 53.4 percent of the total U.S. population.