President Joe Biden will receive a third shot of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine on Monday afternoon, the White House said, as a national campaign for booster shots entered its fourth day.
Biden, 78, received his second dose of the Pfizer vaccine in January. The White House said the president would deliver remarks and receive his booster shot Monday at the South Court Auditorium in the White House complex.
He has urged eligible Americans — those over 65, adults in long-term care facilities, people over 18 with underlying health conditions and front-line workers — to get a third jab of the Pfizer vaccine.
Federal authorities haven't approved booster shots of the Moderna vaccine, which appears to provide particularly robust and long-lasting virus protection, or the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which was the last of the three inoculations to be rolled out.
The U.S. began its campaign to get booster shots into arms on Friday, after Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, overruled her own panel to cast a wider net of people eligible for the extra shots, including front-line workers.
The panel, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, did recommend shots for the elderly and people with underlying medical conditions.
The booster push has generated controversy, with some questioning the need for extra shots in the vaccine-rich U.S., while poor countries suffer from rock-bottom vaccination rates.
Eligible Americans can receive the Pfizer booster six months after their second shot, according to CDC guidance. Biden said on Friday that 60 million people fit the bill in the U.S.
"Like your first and second shot, the booster shot is free and easily accessible," the president said. But he noted, "The bottom line is: If you're fully vaccinated, you're highly protected from severe illness even if you get COVID-19."
