Former President Barack Obama is assisting the Biden administration in its vaccine messaging, urging Americans to not only get vaccinated but get a booster shot as well.
“I want to let you know that all adults are eligible for a COVID-19 booster shot. I got mine,” Obama said in a video posted to social media on Wednesday, touting booster shots as something that can increase protection and help prevent “severe illness and death.”
“So, if you were vaccinated before June, it’s time to get a booster,” he said:
Obama’s plea comes as public health officials shift their coronavirus messaging from the importance of vaccines to the importance of booster shots. Speaking to reporters in the White House press briefing room on Wednesday, where he detailed the first case of the Omicron variant in the U.S. — occurring in a vaccinated individual — Dr. Anthony Fauci said the priority remains getting “60 million” unvaccinated individuals in this country to get the jab.
“Let’s get them vaccinated. Let’s get the people who are vaccinated boosted. Let’s get the children vaccinated. That’s where we want to go, as opposed to a requirement,” he said when asked if a vaccine requirement for domestic travel should be considered.
However, Fauci also confirmed the suspicions of critics who have warned that public health officials will continue to move the goalposts when it comes to vaccine mandates. When asked if they would eventually change the definition of fully vaccinated to include only those who have also received booster shots, Fauci said it “could change.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has been one of the most vocal critics on this issue, warning in September that any vaccine mandate could become a “rolling mandate, potentially” due to the booster shots.