More than half of the states in the US have failed to meet the Biden administration’s COVID-19 goal to partially vaccinate 70% of American adults by the Fourth of July, CNN reported. This report comes as experts are worried that the Delta variant would cause a spike in cases.

Twenty states in the United States have met Biden’s goal, which was set in May. The US hit the peak of its vaccination rate in mid-April when the seven-day average of daily COVID-19 vaccine doses administered reached  3.3 million, the CNN report said. The period saw at least 1.8 million new people receiving their final dose every day.

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A USA Today report, quoting White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients on June 22, said that 16 states and the District of Columbia had reached the goal. However, some states were at less than 50% of all adults. Zients had said that the country needs some more weeks to meet the goal.

Experts believe that the Delta variant of COVID-19 may make it even harder to reach herd immunity. 

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As recorded on Saturday, this week’s seven-day average was 1,121,064 doses given per day, CNN said, adding that about 685,472 people are becoming fully vaccinated daily. 

With 157 million adults fully vaccinated, Joe Biden’s administration has almost succeeded in their conquest to reach 160 million adults by the holiday. However, health experts have been concerned about the low vaccine rate in some areas and the Delta variant being detected in all 50 US states.

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“As a nation, as a whole, we are doing very well,” chief medical advisor to the president Dr Anthony Fauci said on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ Sunday.

The Delta variant, first found in India, is highly contagious and causes severe illness. It has been spreading rapidly.

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“There are some states where the level of vaccination of individuals is 35% or less. Under those circumstances, you might expect to see spikes in certain regions, in certain states, cities or countries. I don’t think you are going to be seeing anything nationwide, because fortunately, we have a substantial proportion of the population vaccinated. So it’s going to be regional,” Fauci added.

California’s COVID-19 test positivity rate doubled from 0.7%  to 1.5% after it relaxed most of the restrictions on June 15, CNN reported. The Delta variant is responsible for  36% of all new coronavirus cases in California