Associated Press: “The dwindling demand for vaccines illustrates the challenge that the U.S. faces in trying to conquer the pandemic while at the same time dealing with the optics of tens of thousands of doses sitting on shelves when countries like India and Brazil are in the midst of full-blown medical emergencies.”

“More than half of American adults have received at least one vaccine dose, and President Joe Biden this week celebrated eclipsing 200 million doses administered in his first 100 days in office. He also acknowledged entering a new phase to bolster outreach and overcome hesitancy.”

“It is easy to feel as if the coronavirus pandemic is getting out of control again. The rate of new cases hit a record last week, with 5.2m people around the world getting infected,” the Financial Times reports.

“But the flurry of depressing headlines cannot disguise one thing: it is now clear that the vaccines are working. In countries where cases have been falling in recent months, the vaccines have saved lives. And in countries that are still struggling to suppress a third or fourth wave, the vaccines have also saved lives.”

“An FT analysis of data from five countries — each facing very different scenarios — finds that rates of infections, hospitalization and death have traced a lower path among the older, most vaccinated age groups than among younger cohorts, who are least likely to have received the jab. This is regardless of the viral caseload — whether infections are rising or falling, or if a country is grappling with one of the new variants.”

“Federal health authorities are leaning toward recommending that use of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine resume, possibly as soon as this weekend — a move that would include a new warning about a rare complication involving blood clots but probably not call for age restrictions,” the Washington Post reports.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) to Fox News: “If you want more people to get vaccinated, Joe Biden should go on national TV, take his mask off and burn it.”

He added: “Light a torch to it and burn his mask and say, ‘I’ve had the vaccine, I am now safe from this plague. If you get the vaccine, you can be safe, too.'”

It’s worth noting that Rand Paul has refused to get vaccinated himself.

Washington Post: “About 3 million Americans are getting vaccinated daily, an 11 percent decrease in the seven-day average of daily shots administered over the past week. The unprecedented drop is rivaled only by a brief falloff that occurred in February, when winter storms forced the closure of vaccination sites and delayed shipments nationwide.”

Time: “Officials have said that when it comes to persuasion, they have to make sure their efforts won’t exacerbate skepticism. Their strategy largely hinges on channelling talking points and funding to community leaders who they hope will have more sway with many Americans than the federal government.”

Said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki: “We recognize that the President, that all of us, may not be exactly the right messengers for some of these audiences.”

Bloomberg: “President Joe Biden called on employers to use a tax credit to provide paid time off to workers to get vaccinated and for businesses to do more to boost the inoculation effort as the U.S. seeks to get shots in more arms.”

“President Biden plans to deliver a speech Wednesday on his administration’s efforts to combat covid-19 and the current state of vaccinations,” the Washington Post reports.

“The speech comes amid signs of hope and concern in the nationwide effort to vaccinate people as quickly as possible. More than 40 percent of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of the vaccine, and many states have recently picked up the pace at which they are getting shots into arms.”

The U.S. will probably run out of adults who are enthusiastic about getting vaccinated within the next two to four weeks, according to a new KFF analysis.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports Republicans who say they don’t want to get the vaccine are becoming only more resistant.

“New York City health officials estimate that nearly a quarter of adult New Yorkers were infected with the coronavirus during the catastrophic wave of last spring, and that the toll was even higher among Black and Hispanic residents,” the New York Times reports.

Axios/Ipsos Poll: “Most Americans support the pause in distribution of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, and so far there’s no evidence that it’s leading to broader vaccine hesitancy.”

“Republicans were almost as likely to support the pause as Democrats, an indication this issue hasn’t been politicized.”

“The Biden administration is considering requiring tobacco companies to reduce the nicotine levels in all cigarettes sold in the U.S. to levels at which they are no longer addictive,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

President Biden announced that, as of today, every American adult is now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Half of U.S. adults have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and about a third are fully vaccinated.

“It’s almost paradoxical that on the one hand they want to be relieved of the restrictions, but on the other hand they don’t want to get vaccinated. It just almost doesn’t make any sense.”

— Dr. Anthony Fauci, discussing vaccine hesitant Republicans on CNN.

New York Times: “The disparity in vaccination rates has so far mainly broken down along political lines. The New York Times examined survey and vaccine administration data for nearly every U.S. county and found that both willingness to receive a vaccine and actual vaccination rates to date were lower, on average, in counties where a majority of residents voted to re-elect former President Donald J. Trump in 2020. The phenomenon has left some places with a shortage of supply and others with a glut.”

“The Biden administration on Friday rescinded approval for changes to Texas’ Medicaid program granted by the Trump administration, saying that federal Medicaid officials ‘materially erred’ by speeding approval for the state’s $100 billion-plus request in January,” the Washington Post reports.

“Two federal health officials… characterized Friday’s decision as an effort to push Texas toward accepting the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion.”