WASHINGTON: The administration of President Joe Biden on Tuesday conceded it won't meet its goal of administering one or more doses of a Covid vaccine to 70 percent of US adults by July 4.

"We think it'll take a few extra weeks to get to 70 percent of all adults with at least one shot," said Jeffrey Zients, head of the White House Covid response team.

As of Tuesday, 65.4 percent of over-18s had received one or more doses of the Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson shots.

But the vaccination rate has been declining since April when it hit a peak average of 3.4 million daily shots. The latest average is around 850,000 daily shots.

Adult vaccination rates vary greatly by state. The Northeast has some of the highest uptake, with Vermont leading the charge at 84 percent partially vaccinated and 75 percent fully vaccinated.