Joe Biden gets coronavirus booster and says he wants more vaccine mandates
- Americans who refuse to be vaccinated are causing ‘an awful lot of damage for the rest of the country’, the US president says
- Biden meets guidelines issued last week by the FDA and CDC that those over age 65 get a third dose
Biden, 78, meets guidelines issued last week by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention that those over age 65 get a third vaccination.
“If you’re fully vaccinated, you’re highly protected now from severe illness even if you get Covid-19. You’re safe and we’re going to do everything we can to keep it that way with the boosters,” he said before getting his shot. “The most important thing we can do is to get more Americans vaccinated.”
Americans who have refused to be vaccinated, he said, are causing “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 mandates wherever I can.”
The president received his first shot in December and his second in January, putting him well past the six-month threshold for receiving a third shot. As he rolled up his sleeve for his third shot, he told reporters he had not experienced any side effects from the previous injections.
Biden is touting booster shots for Americans even as many countries struggle to get enough supplies to provide initial doses. Some public-health advocates say vaccines should be shipped to countries without adequate supply before the US gives third shots.