Biden, Emhoff push for shots
1st lady, 2nd gentleman take vaccination push to Phoenix middle school
First lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff visited a pop-up clinic at a Phoenix school, posing for pictures with those getting vaccines and encouraging others to get shots.
First lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff visited a pop-up clinic at a west Phoenix middle school on Wednesday, posing for pictures with those getting their COVID-19 vaccines and encouraging others to get their shots.
Their visit to Isaac Middle School, in an area where the vaccine rate is lagging drew Arizona politicians and health officials, including Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and Cindy McCain, recently nominated as President Joe Biden’s pick as the U.S. representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture.
One girl who got a shot told Biden that she likes to cook. Biden asked her if she wanted to go to culinary school. Biden moved to a second girl to chat, and they took a picture together.
“Thank you for getting vaccinated,” Biden told people in a waiting room.
Biden and Emhoff posed for more pictures with teens getting the vaccine and with clinic workers.
Multiple families waiting in line to be vaccinated said they were unaware that Biden and Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, were visiting the vaccine clinic.
Jetaime Moreno, 13, said she was at the clinic for a simple reason.
“Because I don’t want to catch it (COVID-19),” Moreno, who was with her father, said.
Austin Leon, 22, and his sister Sasha Leon, 15, knew because their father, who works for Equality Health, helped spearhead the event. But the main reason the Leons were there was to get Sasha her second vaccine dose. In a couple of weeks, Sasha is headed to Las Vegas for a volleyball tournament.
“I just wanted to make sure I didn’t have a higher chance because everyone’s touching the ball,” Sasha Leon said. “I don’t want to be in fear.”
Sasha said her father wants to make shots available to more people. “His goal is to get a bunch of events in more poor places or harder places for people to get vaccines,” she said.
Gallego introduced Biden and Emhoff to a crowd of about 100 people after they had toured the clinic, noting that Maricopa County had “voted for Biden/Harris” last year.
“We are looking forward to getting out in the community and helping people with whatever barriers are out in front of us,” Kate Gallego said.
U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., whose district includes Isaac Middle School, and City Councilmember Lau
ra Pastor also attended. So did Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and Arizona Department of Health Services Director Dr. Cara Christ.
“There’s still too many communities, especially communities of color, that struggle to get access to vaccines and factual information about the reliability and benefits of vaccination,” Ruben Gallego said. “This has resulted in lower vaccination rates.”
Wednesday’s event was the third COVID-19 vaccination clinic hosted at Isaac Middle School in partnership with the Equality Health Foundation, the Herozona Foundation and Adelante Healthcare, among other community stakeholders. All three vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson) were offered, in addition to COVID-19 testing.
“What’s really unique about (the clinic) is it’s bringing all of it together, both the vaccines and the testing together, and we’re taking it out to the community,” said Christina Noble, the chief growth officer at Sonora Quest Laboratories, which helped conduct testing at the clinic.
‘Too soon to declare victory’
At the event, Emhoff said that while the United States is doing well in terms of vaccinations, “it’s too soon to declare victory.” He encouraged Arizonans to get vaccinated, citing that less than half of the state’s adults between the ages of 18 and 24 have received one shot.
Emhoff then introduced Biden and the two hugged. Biden said it is the duo’s first official trip together because they usually “divide and conquer.”
“Today our message is so important that we wanted to come to Phoenix together,” Biden said, adding that Phoenix is the last stop on the National Month of Action tour to promote vaccinations across the country.
As July 4 approaches, the first lady said she is “so excited to be able to come back together” to celebrate with vaccinated loved ones. But the Biden administration is unlikely to reach its ambitious goal of vaccinating 70% of American adults with at least one shot by the holiday. Currently, about 66% of adults have received at least one dose.
Biden held a moment of silence for the community of Surfside in Florida, site of a horrific collapse of a condominium building. She also recognized the Navajo Nation leaders in the audience whom she met with on her last trip to the state.
“I think you’ll see a lot of me and Doug on the road this summer as we’re not stopping,” she said, noting that only about 40% of Arizonans are fully vaccinated. “And that’s just not enough,” she said.
Many clinics don’t require an appointment, she told the crowd. “You could just stick your kids in the car, you know, with a baggie with treats and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to the vaccination clinic.’ You can just walk in.”
Biden also acknowledged the anniversary of the Yarnell Hill Fire, where 19 members of a hotshot crew died in 2013. She noted that Cindy McCain and her late husband, longtime U.S. Sen. John McCain, had attended services for them.
Karen Stewart was one of the 100 people admitted to the event. As the director of evangelism and discipleship at the First Institutional Baptist Church in Phoenix, Stewart has “advocated for getting vaccinations,” including spearheading vaccination events aimed at the vaccine-hesitant in April.
“I don’t know if I necessarily learned anything new,” Stewart said. “But sometimes you don’t go somewhere to learn something new, you go to kind of get inspired to continue the fight.”
‘I want to understand’
The event was closed to the public, which led to some disappointed dropins.
Sandy Casias, who is a medical professional, tried getting into the gymnasium before being stopped by security personnel. Not yet vaccinated, Casias said she plans to get vaccinated in two years. She points to the fact that the COVID-19 vaccine is not Food and Drug Administration-approved — the government approved it using an emergency use authorization in December — as to why she has chosen not to be vaccinated. She wanted to hear Jill Biden speak to “understand all sides,” she said.
“I want to understand for people taking it, why they do, and for people that don’t take it, why they don’t,” Casias said. “So for me, it’s more to gather information to where I might be beneficial in doing what you do as a medical professional. So is this about politics? No. This is about humanity. This is about our country, our freedoms, our rights, truth, no matter what the party is.”
Another person denied admission was Arlene Hallums. What drew Hallums to the event was her fondness for Jill Biden, she said. She first heard her speak with Michelle Obama about the importance of getting the COVID-19 vaccination.
At first, however, Hallums chose not to get vaccinated. Hallums, who works at Peoria Unified District in Glendale, wanted to see the fluctuation of Arizona’s death rates due to COVID-19. Only once those figures dropped did Hallums decide to get vaccinated.
“That kind of encouraged me,” Hallums said. “Then I heard Ms. Biden was coming here and I hoped to hear her. Plus, I want to get to my destination because you can’t travel without it.”
After leaving the gymnasium, Hallums went to the pop-up clinic to get her first vaccination.
Anti-vaccination and pro-Trump protesters marched along 34th Avenue during the event. They chanted and waved flags that said, “Kids don’t need their COVID vaccine,” and “Trump won” in addition to wearing Make America Great Again and Trump 2020 apparel.
Several protesters shouted expletives at passersby who were going to get vaccinated.
Lagging vaccination rates
According to data collected by the Arizona Department of Health Services, approximately 49% of Arizona’s population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The state ranks below the national average, with about 54% of the country having received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to data collected by the CDC.
Isaac Middle School is in Phoenix’s 85009 ZIP code, an area that was hard hit by COVID-19 and has for months had a lagging vaccination rate. The state this spring launched a targeted effort to increase vaccinations among vulnerable populations, starting with that ZIP code. Efforts have included pop-up vaccine events, knocking on doors, social media campaigns and help with transportation.
As of last week, about 30% of all residents in 85009 had received at least one vaccine dose, compared with more than 45% of all county residents, according to Maricopa County data.
Biden and Emhoff visited Arizona and Texas this week as part of the National Month of Action tour.
The two spent Tuesday afternoon and evening in Texas, visiting a vaccination site at a Dallas high school and attending a vaccination clinic hosted by the Houston Astros baseball team.
They flew to Phoenix from Houston on Tuesday night.
At Isaac Middle School, Emhoff said the past year has been “really tough, especially for front-line workers … with just putting their safety and their lives on the line for us.”
“As we also know, things are starting to get better,” he said. “The reason we are able to be here without masks, the reason Dr. Biden and I were able to go the Astros game without masks, is because the vaccine works.”
He said both of his children are vaccinated. “And I gotta tell you, it was such a sigh of relief,” adding he is sleeping better at night with his kids vaccinated.
“At the end of the day, the only way we’re going to put this behind us as if we keep getting the word out, as leaders working together,” he said.
Dr. Bechara Choucair, White House vaccinations coordinator, said Tuesday the event is “part of the effort to make sure that we continue to build momentum and continue to raise the importance of getting vaccinated.”
“The fact remains is there are still lots of people who are unvaccinated in Arizona and across the country, so we have to do everything we can to make it as easy and convenient as possible for them to get vaccinated,” Choucair said.
The increased prevalence of the delta variant — a COVID-19 mutation that is likely more contagious and severe — makes it is even more essential to receive a vaccine, he said. The delta variant has been increasing in circulation in Arizona over the past couple of weeks, according to genome sequencing results.
“(There is) a significant increase in the proportion of the infections that are caused by the delta variant,” Choucair said.
Biden and Emhoff’s motorcade left the school shortly after 1:30 p.m., and they boarded their plane for a return to the Washington, D.C., area a little before 2 p.m.
The first lady had last visited Arizona in late April, spending two days at the Navajo Nation’s tribal capital to address recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris made a virtual visit to the state-run State Farm vaccination site in February, where they praised the site, calling it a model for other vaccination sites around the country.
The state-run sites have now closed as the focus shifts to increasing vaccine opportunities in neighborhoods, at sites like pharmacies, doctors’ offices, community health clinics and pop-up events.