Seventy-eight-year-old Joe Biden and 79-year-old Mitch McConnell got their booster shots Monday, the Democratic president and the Republican Senate leader urging Americans across the political spectrum to get vaccinated or plus up with boosters when eligible for the extra dose of protection.
US regulators recommended the third dose to people over 65 and those working in environments with a high risk of infection or other health problems.
“Now, I know it doesn’t look like it, but I am over 65 — I wish I — way over,” the president joked. “And that’s why I’m getting my booster shot today.”
“The most important thing we need to do is to get more people vaccinated,” the White House leader said before medics gave him the third dose.
He added that he had had no side effects after the first two. The first lady will also receive a booster dose of the vaccine, he said, but she was at work on Monday, she teaches at Northern Virginia Community College.