President Biden receives his Covid-19 booster shot: Vaccines 'can save your life and ... can save the lives of those around you'

 

President Joe Biden received his Covid-19 vaccine booster shot on Monday afternoon at the White House just days after booster doses were approved by federal health officials.

"We know that to beat this pandemic and to save lives ... we need to get folks vaccinated," Biden said during remarks ahead of his shot. "So, please, please do the right thing. Please get these shots. It can save your life and it can save the lives of those around you."

The President received his first two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine ahead of his inauguration in January. The 78-year-old President qualified for a booster dose since he received his second Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine more than six months ago and is in an eligible age group.

The President had said Monday afternoon that Jill Biden would also be getting a shot soon but that the first lady -- a professor at Northern Virginia Community College outside Washington -- was teaching. Her press secretary Michael LaRosa told CNN later Monday that she had received her booster at the White House.

Biden joked on Monday about how he is "way over" the age of 65, which is part of the reason he is eligible for the shot. He said he didn't have any side effects after getting his first or second Covid-19 vaccine shots.

"Boosters are important, but the most important thing we need to do is get more people vaccinated," Biden said.

He noted that Americans who are fully vaccinated are already highly protected from severe illness, and urged people who have not gotten their first shots to do so as soon as possible.

The President said: "The vast majority of Americans are doing the right thing. Over 77% of adults have gotten at least one shot. About 23% haven't gotten any shots, and that distinct minority is causing an awful lot of us an awful lot of damage for the rest of the country."

"This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated. That's why I'm moving forward with vaccination requirements wherever I can," Biden said.

Here’s a transcript as best as I understood him:

“Well I think… Look. I think we get the vast majority like is going on in some of these industries and schools, 97-98%. I think we’re close, but I’m not the scientist. I think one thing for sure. A quarter of the country can’t go unvaccinated and us not continue to have problems.

We will never get 97-98% vaccinated in this country. That’s absurd. We won’t even get close to that number. In fact I dare say that we’re probably about as good as we will get at this point.

President Joe Biden should just stop with his authoritarian nonsense and just let the country move on. Period. The country is what it is and we need to learn to cope, letting people be free to live their lives.