Biden moves full adult vaccine eligibility to April 19

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday sped up by two weeks the deadline by which all states must institute universal adult eligibility for COVID-19 inoculations.

States must now allow everyone who wants a vaccine to get in line for an appointment by April 19, Biden announced at the White House, revising a previous May 1 deadline.

"My message today is a simple one: many states have already opened up to all adults. But beginning April 19, every adult in every state, every adult in this country is eligible to get in line to get a COVID vaccination," the president said.

The US is in the process of rolling out three separate vaccines, including two from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna that require two doses spread weeks apart. Another vaccine from Johnson & Johnson requires just one shot.

To date, 169 million doses have been put into people's arms, while roughly 220 million doses have been distributed, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Biden said the US is averaging about 3 million shots per day and more than 20 million shots a week, putting the country on pace to beat his goal of 200 million shots administered in his first 100 days in office.

Still, he cautioned of a growing number of cases and the spread of new variants as the vaccination campaign picks up steam.

Daily confirmed cases had fallen to as low as 43,605 on March 28, but as spring has entered full swing, daily cases have averaged nearly double that figure, vacillating between 77,000 and 79,000 per day over the past week.