Kamala Harris receives second dose of coronavirus vaccine

Joe Biden has sought to increase nation’s stockpile to 600 million doses by ‘end of summer’

Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff have received a second dose of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine.

She sat for her shot at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland on Tuesday.

The vice president urged “everyone to take the vaccine when it is your turn.”

“It is really pretty painless, and it will save your life,” she said.

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Moments after receiving her shot, she reflected on her “full circle” moment: returning to the National Institutes of Health facility where her mother, a breast cancer researcher, had worked.

“These scientists, these medical professionals – doing the work of pursuing what is in the interest of the public health – have been a big part of the vaccine that I just took,” she said. “They, through the research, through the dedication, created something that will save your life and the life of your family and the community.”

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden announced that the administration is nearing a deal to secure 200 million additional vaccine doses from drugmakers Moderna and Pfizer in an effort to vaccinate 300 million Americans by the end of summer, a similar timeline to one envision by Donald Trump’s administration.

A bump to the nation’s supply would increase its stockpile to 600 million doses; both vaccines require two doses, several days apart.

Mr Biden also said weekly allocations of vaccine doses will likely increase by 1.4 million doses beginning next week.

“This is going to allow millions more Americans to get vaccinated sooner than previously anticipated,” he said.

Initial vaccine rollout was plagued by inconsistencies and insufficient infrastructure in the final weeks of Mr Trump’s term. Roughly 3.5 million people have received both doses, significantly lower than a goal under his administration to inoculate 20 million Americans by the end of 2020.

The federal government has distributed more than 44.3 million Covid-19 vaccines to states, but only 23.5 vaccines have been administered as of Tuesday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

President Biden has committed to 100 million vaccines within his first 100 days in office, a schedule he hope to scale up, which could put the US on track towards herd immunity – or as many as 300 million vaccinated Americans – by this summer.