In an effort to promote the updated COVID-19 boosters to protect against virus variants, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha rolled up their sleeves.
The pair stopped by a Washigton, D.C., vaccination clinic just blocks from the U.S. Capitol to receive the updated Moderna booster and their annual flu shot.
Emhoff became the first of the four White House principals – the president, vice president and their spouses – to receive the updated booster shot.
“I’m looking forward to this,” Emhoff said as a clinic staffer swabbed his arm.
The updated booster is what's known as a bivalent vaccine, which defends against the original COVID strain and the new omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants.
The Moderna booster shot is available for anyone 18 and older. For the Pfizer-BioNTech booster, anyone 12 and up can get the shot. People who got the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine can also get these new boosters.
The updated boosters will likely be available to younger children in the coming weeks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“These vaccinations, they work, they're safe, they're free, and they are available,” said Emhoff, thanking Dr. Jha for coming with him to get his vaccinations. “We’re really here as dads. I can’t wait for Cole and Ella to get their updated vaccinations.”
“I encourage all parents to go out, get them yourselves, and if your kids are 12 and over, go ahead and do that,” he added.
People can get the new coronavirus booster shots two months after they got their initial shots or their last booster, the Department of Health and Human Services said.
Before leaving, the Second Gentleman was asked about Texas Gov. Greg Abbott bussing migrants from the border city of Eagle Pass, Texas off at the Naval Observatory, the Washington residence of Vice President Kamala Harris, on Thursday.
“I think it was shameful," he said. "These people are human beings. They need to be treated with kindness and respect, and they weren’t."
"We have so called leaders in this country, rather than focusing on what’s good for the public within their own states, they’re using people as pawns for a political stunt," Emhoff added. "I think it’s shameful."