JOE BIDEN says he plans to have enough doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to inoculate all adults in the United States by the end of May.
Initially, the president had promised this by the end of July, but a recent uptick in vaccine supply has changed things.
"We're now on track to have enough vaccine supply for every adult in America by the end of May," Biden said.
He also announced that drugmaker Merck will help to produce rival Johnson & Johnson newly approved one-shot vaccine.
The president likened the partnership between the two drug companies to the spirit of national cooperation during the Second World War.
It follows Mr Biden's recent insistence that all teachers in the country should receive vaccinations as soon as possible in order to help with the return of schools.
Earlier this week he pushed for states to get at least on dose of the vaccine into the arms of all teachers by the end of March.
America has now administered nearly 80 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine, and are judged to have had the ninth best vaccine roll-out in the world thus far.
Despite this, officials have warned that the programme will likely continue long into the summer.
Biden himself refused to answer questions about when exactly the US would emerge from the pandemic, but pretty much guaranteed that by "this time next year", things would be well and truly back to normal.
See More: Covid-19, Covid-19 Vaccine, Joe Biden
