PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- President Joe Biden says we will reach the goal of 160 million Americans fully vaccinated by the end of the week, just a few days past that July 4th deadline.
But he adds that the fight is not over.
"We're closer than ever from declaring our independence from this deadly virus," Biden said. He also announced that America will at least partly reach the vaccination goals he set in March a few days after the original July 4th deadline.
Biden said we have already hit 70% with at least one dose of vaccine in ages 27 and older.
The original goal was for adults 18 and older, so the President is urging more young adults and anyone still unvaccinated to please get the shots.
COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have plummeted, dropping more than 90% since January, but millions of Americans remain unvaccinated and at risk.
"Virtually every COVID-19 hospitalization and death in the U.S. has been in unvaccinated, so if you're vaccinated, you're protected. If you're unvaccinated, you're not," said Biden.
He says now the government will spend the rest of the summer trying to reach unvaccinated.
They're sending surge teams to areas with low-vaccination rates and spikes in cases, deploying more mobile units, and shipping vaccine doses to more local pharmacies and doctors' offices - including pediatricians for kids 12 and older.
"We can't get complacent now. The best thing you can do to protect yourself and the people you care about is get vaccinated," Biden said.