U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday his administration plans to launch a campaign to educate Americans about coronavirus vaccines, as he attended an event to mark 50 million COVID-19 vaccine doses administered nationwide since he took office last month.

"We're going to launch a massive campaign educating people about vaccines, that they are safe and effective," Biden said. "We're going to bring together leaders of all segments of our society to educate and encourage all Americans to get vaccinated." 

The U.S. passed the grim milestone of 500,000 COVID-19 deaths earlier this week.  

(With input from Reuters)