Brigadier General Janeen Birckhead of the Maryland National Guard visits a woman as she receives her modern coronavirus vaccine from specialist James Truong (L) at CASA de Maryland’s Wheaton Welcome Center in Wheaton, Maryland on May 21, 2021.

Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images

Half of adults in the US will be fully vaccinated against Covid by the end of the day, a White House official said Tuesday.

The latest milestone in the U.S.’s sweeping effort to vaccinate its way out of the pandemic is Covid infections and deaths falling to lows the nation hasn’t seen in nearly a year.

Earlier this month, President Joe Biden set a goal of getting 70% of adults to get at least their first dose of a Covid vaccine by July 4th. The president said his hope is that the US will “celebrate our independence as a nation and our independence from this virus” by Independence Day.

Almost six weeks before Biden’s self-imposed deadline, nine states have already reached this 70% threshold.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine tracker showed on Monday that 49.8% of the US population aged 18 and over had been fully vaccinated, and 61.5% of that group had received at least one dose.

Among the people in the United States aged 65 and over who are at a far greater health risk from Covid, 74% have been fully vaccinated, the CDC tracker shows.

The CDC’s numbers were due to be updated later Tuesday to reflect the White House announcement.