US: Biden raises daily vaccination target and extends travel bans

President Biden, under pressure to speed up the pace of coronavirus vaccination, said on Monday that he was now aiming for the US to administer 1.5m vaccine doses a day — a goal that is 50% higher than his initial target but one that the nation already appears on track to meet. The president made his comments just hours after he banned travel by noncitizens into the US from South Africa because of concern about a coronavirus variant spreading in that country, and moved to extend similar bans imposed by his predecessor on travel from Brazil, Europe and Britain. Those bans were set to expire on Tuesday. Biden has vowed to get “100 million Covid-19 shots in the arms of the American people” by his 100th day in office. Because two doses are required, and some Americans have already been vaccinated, his promise would cover about 67m Americans. To realize it, the US would have to administer 1m shots a day.<br/>