On Sunday, June 6, 2021, first lady Jill Biden, center left, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
They both toured a COVID-19 a vaccine clinic at the legendary Abyssinian Baptist Church on 138th Street in Harlem.
Biden, Fauci and U.S. Sen Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, watched as people got their shots in the basement of the Abyssinian Baptist Church.
About 15 people were vaccinated during the approximately 40-minute visit.
Biden asked a teenager about to get his shot how old he was, and when he said he was 14, she responded, “You’re 14, that’s exactly what we want! Twelve and over.”
The Abyssinian Baptist Church has often hosted elected officials and other dignitaries, including in February when former President Bill Clinton and former Sen. Hillary Clinton attended a memorial service for actor Cicely Tyson.
ABC7ny reported that the church opened the vaccination site back in January, and pastor Calvin Butts was the first person there to receive the shot.
“I think it’s important for Dr. Biden, First Lady and Dr. Fauci, come to emphasize the importance, especially in the Black and brown community of the church in being the first line of defense against COVID-19,” Rev. Butts said.” We have been extremely successful in the pandemic, HIV tubes held the live demonstration house we made an effort that not only changed attitudes, but saved thousands of lives. We have doing that again, to choose healthy life.”
The church first started offering vaccine doses in January in an effort to boost the vaccination rates in New York City’s Black and Hispanic communities reports AP and others.
Photo credit: First lady Jill Biden.
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