First lady Jill Biden and Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, visited a New York City COVID-19 vaccination site on Sunday.
Biden and Fauci traveled to the site at Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York’s Harlem neighborhood. New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) joined the pair at the site.
The first lady met workers registering patients to receive their COVID-19 vaccines, as well as a 14-year-old boy getting his shot at the site.
“You OK?” Biden asked the boy. “You’re 14 so you’re exactly who we’re going for. We definitely want 12 and over to get vaccinated.”
The first lady offered to hold the boy’s hand while he received the shot, but workers and the first lady were seen laughing when the boy shook his head.
Biden also greeted a 92-year-old woman, Annette Gausney, who came to receive her COVID-19 vaccine.
Gausney said her grandson convinced her to get the shot, and Biden thanked the woman “for setting an example.”
The first lady emphasized that public health officials across the country are working to get adolescents vaccinated, in addition to offering vaccines at sites trusted by local communities, like churches, according to pool reports.
“People in this community trust this church, and trust the people in the church. And that’s how we’re going to do this, you know, through some faith community to reach out to the congregation or block to say come forward and be vaccinated,” Biden said.
Fauci added that “the vehicle to ending” the pandemic is COVID-19 vaccines.
But not all of those at the visit welcomed the top public health official.
Approximately 75 protesters also gathered outside of the church and held signs criticizing Fauci and COVID-19 vaccinations, including some that said “Fauci=criminal,” “F— your COVID passports,” “No masks, no vaccines, no fluoride” and more. Protesters also chanted “Freedom over fear” and “fire Fauci.”
One of the demonstrators, Maxine Garrett, 38, said that she would not get a COVID-19 vaccine, claiming that officials do not know the “long-term” effects of the shot.
The visit comes as the Biden administration has boosted its vaccination efforts across the country, targeting hard-to-reach, unvaccinated Americans as cases continue to drop but vaccination rates slow.
President Biden last week announced a slate of new incentives, from free beer to free child care, as his administration seeks to reach the president’s goal of getting 70 percent of the country’s adult population at least partially vaccinated by July 4.
Vice President Harris is also set to travel the country to tout vaccination efforts, focusing mainly on the South, where shots have lagged in some places.