Summary: Two more US states meet goals for vaccination, India's infection rate drops

Moderna seeks full FDA approval for vaccine; California, Maryland latest states to meet Biden's July 4 goal: Latest COVID-19 updates Moderna announced Tuesday that it has begun applying for a full license for its vaccine from the FDA, an upgrade from current emergency authorization. Elinor Aspegren and John Bacon USA TODAY

California and Maryland are the 11th and 12th states to make the July 4 benchmark set by President Joe Biden who announced last month that he was making it a goal to inoculate 70% of U.S. adults with at least one COVID-19 shot by that date.

So far, at least 62% of adults are there, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 70% of adults in California have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday. Maryland also reached the milestone Monday.

But many states are lagging behind. Alabama, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Wyoming all have vaccination rates under 40%.

In Alabama, 36% of the state has received at least one dose. 

“It’s very distressing because we have vaccines and we have it in every corner of Alabama,” said Dr. Karen Landers, assistant state health officer.

Several vaccination sites have closed because of the lack of demand, and some areas have considered turning down vaccine shipments. In Opelika, East Alabama Medical Center said “very low demand” and plenty of vaccine supply meant a community clinic would close after giving patients a second round of shots on June 14. ...do this.’’

Also in the news:

►India, after a spike in cases that began in February and surged in April and early May, has reported plummeting infections for the past three weeks. But the death toll is still high and began to drop slightly last week, according to Johns Hopkins University data. ...