Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has received the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine after spending days at a mass vaccination site.
Garcetti was vaccinated last Thursday after spending five days at Dodgers Stadium helping with vaccination efforts, according to multiple reports.
Garcetti’s office referred The Hill to comments the mayor made during a press conference on Thursday, in which he said he got the vaccine after receiving “strong medical advice” to minimize risk of infection to those he was working with at the site.
“They said to minimize risk to the folks I’m interacting with, and myself with the hundreds, if not thousands of people that I work with and will continue to– because I’m going to keep working on site,” Garcetti said.
“I think when people get that advice that it’s important to say yes and to be [an] example,” Garcetti continued. “Not to be an example because you’re an elected official, but when that comes we need people to know you should say yes and that you should feel good about this vaccine being safe, and I wanted to make sure we did that as well.”
The Los Angeles Times reported that L.A. County has been facing a rocky coronavirus vaccine rollout, including a lack of supply coming to the county and areas hardest hit by the pandemic not being able to access them.
Vaccinations began in Los Angeles began in January, according to the city’s website. Those that are currently eligible include health care workers, residents of skilled nursing facilities and persons aged 65 and over.
However, 49-year-old Garcetti doesn’t fit the current criteria. His vaccination drew backlash, given that he previously indicated that he would wait his turn to receive the vaccine.
“I’ll wait for my place when it would naturally come, and not go ahead of that,” Garcetti said last month, according to The Associated Press. “When they tell me I would normally get it, that’s when I’m going to get it.”
At the time, Garcetti was quarantining at home after his nine-year-old daughter tested positive for COVID-19, according to the AP.
Updated: 4:17 p.m.