The president has opened his press conference by announcing a new goal of getting 200 million doses of vaccines into Americans' arms before his hundredth day in office.

"I believe we can do it," he said.

After a slow start under the Trump presidency, the pace of vaccinations has been rapidly climbing.

Last Friday, the US hit 100 million vaccinations given. The goal, which Biden set early in his presidency, was achieved on his 59th day in office.

Around 2.5 million vaccines are being given each day in the US, putting Biden on pace to reach his latest goal.

Read more:

Covid vaccines: How fast is progress around the world?

Image source, Getty Images

President Biden has walked into the East Room of the White House.

The press conference now begins.

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America reporter

Biden presented himself as a grandfatherly figure during the 2020 presidential campaign, one who would reassure a distraught nation during a once-in-a-century pandemic. Over the course of his 50-year career, however, the president has shown flashes of temper:

• In March 2020 at a campaign event in Detroit, he told an auto worker criticising his record on gun control that he was “full of sh*t”.
• In February 2020, he called a student who questioned whether he could turn around his struggling presidential campaign a “lying dog-faced pony soldier”.
• In December 2019, when asked by an Iowa man about his son’s Ukrainian business ties, Biden called him a “damn liar” and “fat” and “too old to vote for me”.
• During Biden’s first presidential campaign in 1987, Biden angrily told a reporter who questioned his academic credentials: “I think I have a much higher IQ than you.

The president will be challenged by reporters during his press conference. Can he keep his temper in check?

As we wait for Biden, who is now ten minutes overdue, here's an insight from the BBC's Paul Danahar in Washington.

Tara McKelvey
White House reporter

That is the main question for many people today, along with: 'Will I find another job?'

Most Americans say dealing with the coronavirus and the economy should be Biden’s top priorities, according to Pew Research Center.

The pandemic will be felt during the press conference: to allow for social distancing, only a couple dozen reporters will be in the East Room, a ballroom-sized area that can fit hundreds (reporters used to be packed in, with some scrunched in a corner).

And the pandemic will certainly be discussed, along with the economy.

But these may not be the subjects on which Biden spends most of his time. Journalists are likely to press him on issues where he has struggled or acted defensively, such as the fraught, emotionally charged subject of immigration policy.

They may ask him about Afghanistan, and about police brutality, and maybe even about his son, Hunter Biden.

The press conference will hold suspense, too, since many of the reporters, and ordinary people, will be waiting for moments when the president fumbles for an answer, or makes a mistake, or trips - either literally or figuratively - when he enters or exits the room.

Stay tuned.

Biden's first formal news conference as president is due to begin in just five minutes - though he is renown to be late and is likely to be running behind again.

He would not be the first. According to the Washington Post, Biden's former boss Barack Obama was a cumulative 35 hours and 21 minutes late to speaking events in 2014.

Watch the event live on our video player above.

Image source, Getty Images

President Dwight Eisenhower, the former commander of US troops in Europe during World War 2, was the first US president to give a televised briefing in 1955 on the eve of the second anniversary of his inauguration.

The event began at 10:32am - two minutes late - and was delivered to 216 reporters in the White House executive office building.

Millions of Americans with televisions tuned in to watch the 28 minute briefing.

The president’s press secretary at the time was concerned that he might be asked about nuclear weapons possibly being used against China.

"Don’t worry,” Eisenhower responded, “If that question comes up, I’ll just confuse them.”

When the question of the conflict between communist and nationalist forces in China did actually arise, he responded with this:

“Well, I should like to see the UN attempt to exercise good offices, I believe, because whenever there’s any kind of fighting and open violence in the world, there is always a — it’s always sort of a powder keg.”

Image source, Getty Images

When reporters asked the president how he was preparing for his first formal press conference, he responded yesterday: "What press conference?"

But according to CNN, Biden has been carefully reviewing his administration’s policies and priorities and studying binders full of his talking points every night.

So far in his presidency, Biden has only spoken to reporters in short bursts, answering one or two questions at a time as he walked to his transport or had delivered remarks at official events.

Biden’s previous offices, as senator and as vice-president, rarely required solo news conferences such as this one.

His press secretary, Jen Psaki gave a different answer when reporters asked about his prep work, joking that Biden is "looking at your Twitters and seeing what's on your mind".

Jon Sopel
BBC North America Editor

Joe Biden by conventional standards is late to this, but I am not sure that will have caused him to lose any sleep.

He came into power with two big objectives - one, to accelerate the roll out of covid vaccines - box ticked.

The other to get a stimulus package passed to help Americans struggling with the economic effects of the pandemic.

Again, mission accomplished.

And though Republicans opposed him, opinion polls suggest he is winning high approval ratings for the measures taken.

But in politics it's not just your pre-set agenda, it's about how you react to pesky, unwelcome events. And what is happening at the border is serious.

There has been a surge of immigrants from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala that seems to be a direct consequence of some of the messaging from the new administration.

In their desire to wave a red flag over Trump era immigration policies, has the Biden administration given a green flag to immigrants to try their luck?

Officials keep insisting it is a challenge rather than a crisis. But it feels much more the latter than the former.

And then there's guns. Biden says there's not a moment to lose for Congress to act after the two most recent mass shootings in Atlanta and Colorado.

But Congress won't act. We've watched this movie before. There aren’t the votes.

So on two hot button issues, Biden needs to show that he is not as powerless as he seems.

And that could make his first press conference decidedly bumpy.

Hear more of Jon's analysis of US politics on Americast.

We're now just 15 minutes away from Biden's first news conference as president.

Image source, Getty Images

Trump’s 16 February 2017 news conference was his only official press conference his first year in office - but he was known for taking questions from the press.

Before him, Barack Obama held seven press conferences during his first year while George W Bush held four.

Here’s how the others compare, according to the American Presidency Project:

• Bill Clinton: 11
• George H W Bush: 27
• Ronald Reagan: 6
• Jimmy Carter: 22
• Gerald Ford: 4
• Richard Nixon: 6

The stage is set in the White House East Room for Biden's first formal news conference, which is now just 30 minutes from beginning.

You'll be able to watch the event live at the top of this page.

Trump’s first press conference from the White House was held on 16 February 2017. It lasted one hour and 18 minutes.

He used the opportunity to blast critics in the media and defend his first month in office, saying that his administration was working “like a fine-tuned machine”.

The event began with his naming Alexander Acosta to be labour secretary.

Acosta later resigned in 2019 over prior handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case when he was a Florida prosecutor.

The thorniest questions President Biden may face could be on immigration.

An increase in migrants at the US-Mexico border and an already backlogged system for processing asylum seekers are testing his promises to contain the crisis and reform the system.

The number of migrants detained at the border is on pace to hit 130,000 in March, up from 100,000 in February.

A spike in unaccompanied minors crossing the border is a key source of this surge, after the Biden administration reversed a policy brought in under his predecessor, Donald Trump, that turned away unaccompanied children.

The Biden administration argues it is not welcoming these migrants but intends to take a more "humane" approach than the previous White House.

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America reporter

Joe Biden has waited longer than any modern president to hold his first solo press conference, so the spotlight on his performance will be more intense than if he had knocked one out during his first few weeks in office.

Reporters are certain to ask about the multiple crises his administration is facing – the coronavirus pandemic, its continued adverse effects on the US economy and the recent upsurge in migrant crossings at the US-Mexico border.

That last topic will be a particular test for the president, given that the situation has been exacerbated, in part, by his early decision to reverse a Trump-era policy of turning back undocumented children who make it onto US soil.

Biden may also be pressed to address big-picture questions, like what his next policy objectives are and how he might live up to his bipartisan goals, given his legislative agenda so far has been fiercely opposed by most Republicans.

The new president campaigned on a “new tone” in Washington, but so far at least it seems like more of the same political battles.

Reporters will pepper questions at Biden on a range of issues.

Here are a few questions that reporters have been saying they plan to ask:

• What is being done to manage the influx of child migrants in US detention centres?
• How will he respond to recent military provocations from Russia and North Korea?
• Can Democrats advance any legislation through the evenly-divided Senate without eliminating the filibuster? (The filibuster requires 60 votes from the 100 member chamber).
• Has his family - namely his son and brother - been profiting off the family name, as is frequently claimed by conservative media?
• Given his age, 78, will he seek a second term in 2024?

We’re also likely to hear from Biden on Iran and China, the latest on the coronavirus vaccine rollout, and perhaps on why he refused to euthanise his dog that bit a White House employee.

Welcome to our live coverage of Joe Biden's first press conference as US president.

The long awaited event comes 64 days after Biden took over the White House from Donald Trump.

People on both sides of the US political aisle have criticised the president for waiting several weeks to hold his first official Q&A with the press. Most US presidents in recent history had already held several at this point in their term.

So, what should we expect? Biden will likely field questions on foreign policy, gun control, immigration issues, the pandemic and much more.

The event is scheduled to begin at 13:15 EDT (17:15 GMT) in the White House East Room.

We'll be streaming the press conference live on this page.