President Joe Biden set a goal for the country soon after he assumed office: 70 percent nationwide vaccination against the coronavirus by July 4th. Biden hoped to declare “independence from the virus” alongside Independence Day. The country as a whole has fallen just short of the benchmark, with 67 percent of the over-18 population having received at least one dose of the inoculation. But 20 states have reached the high bar set by the president, with 70 percent of residents having gotten at least one vaccine dose, according to The New York Times. Those states include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington. Puerto Rico, Guam, and Washington, D.C. have also achieved 70 percent vaccination.
