The Biden administration is expected to fall short of its goal to vaccinate 70% of the population by July 4.

The initial goal was to fully vaccinate 165 million Americans by the holiday weekend. On Monday, the U.S. crossed 150 million, and as of Thursday, roughly 65% of Americans have been fully vaccinated. That number is expected to reach 67% by next weekend.

The figures could be explained by a lesser sense of urgency now that cases and deaths have reached their lowest numbers since the earliest days of the pandemic. When the vaccine was first being rolled out 2 million people were being vaccinated per day. That number is now down to less than 300,000.

Since the death rate has dropped, motivation to be vaccinated is also going to drop.

Young people have also been hesitant to receive the vaccine because statistically, it has not affected them as much as their older relatives. Only 47% of young people ages 18-24 have been vaccinated, as compared to 53% of people ages 25-39.

Just 16 states have vaccinated 70% of their adult populations, states in the south and midwest are lagging behind with four of them not yet reaching the 50% threshold.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that missing the national goal doesn't mean the administration has failed.

“We don’t see it exactly like something went wrong," Psaki said.

Jeffery Zients, the White House pandemic response coordinator, warned of downplaying the delta variant, which accounts for 20% of U.S. infections.

“Many younger Americans have felt like COVID-19 is not something that impacts them, and they have been less eager to get the shot. However, with the delta variant now spreading across the country, and infecting younger people worldwide, it's more important than ever we get vaccinated," Zients said.

White House officials say there is little concern for this because they value reopening the country more than they do hitting the vaccine goals now that the most vulnerable people are protected. However, they do plan to roll out localized programs to encourage specific communities.

The Biden administration is expected to make 80 million vaccine shipments overseas to help underdeveloped countries get vaccinated, 10 million of them are currently en route to their destination with 3 million headed for Brazil.

Coronavirus