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Joe Biden defends Covid-19 booster vaccines in US, would get the shots along with First Lady
“We are going to get the booster shots. We got our shots all the way back in, I think, December. So, it's past time,” Joe Biden said.
US President Joe Biden and the First Lady Jill Biden will get their Covid-19 booster vaccine, the President had said on Wednesday in an interview to ABC News that was aired on Thursday. The President said that he would receive the booster shot even as the World Health Organization (WHO) experts expressed concerns over equitable vaccine distribution after the US said that it would provide boosters to all its citizens.
“We are going to get the booster shots. We got our shots all the way back in, I think, December. So, it's past time,” Biden replied when asked if he and the First Lady had got their booster shots.
The US health officials had said that the effectiveness of the vaccines against the disease diminished over time, based on findings from recent studies. Booster shots would be offered in the country from September 20, the officials also said.
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However, several experts from the World Health Organisation had expressed their concerns about equitable distribution of the vaccines following the US announcement. The UN health agency said that the data “clearly” showed that top-up for vaccines were not needed. Further, the WHO also cautioned the possibilities of new variants of the disease emerging from the unvaccinated regions. In reply, White House press secretary Jen Psaki and US surgeon general Vivek Murthy said that the US is also contributing globally in the fight against the pandemic.
During the interview, Biden, too, made a similar case supporting the US decision to provide boosters. When asked if he was comfortable with US citizens getting a third shot when millions around the world are yet to receive their first, Biden replied, “Absolutely because we're providing more to the rest of the world than all the rest of the world combined. We got enough for everybody (and) Americans, plus before we get to the middle of next year, we are going to provide a half a billion shots to the rest of the world. We are keeping our part of the bargain. We are doing more than anybody.”
The US authorities said that people who had received the Pfizer and the Moderna shots would need a booster after eight months of the second dose. Biden was inoculated with the Pfizer vaccine, with a first dose in December 2020 and a second dose in January this year.
