Joe Biden received his third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday

The president of the United States, Joe biden, received this Monday his third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, the White House announced.

Biden, 78, received “a booster vaccine against Covid-19” according to US health guidelines. The president also spoke of the fight against the pandemic at 1 p.m. (local time, 17 GMT).

“The FDA and CDC have reviewed all of the information and determined that a third dose of Pfizer vaccine is safe and effective. Last week, they detailed who should receive these booster doses at this time. I know that I do not look like him but I am over 65 years old and that is why I will receive it “, he joked during a message to the population a few minutes before applying the vaccine.

“The most important thing we have to do is vaccinate more people”, she said, adding that she had no side effects after her first or second injection.

And he finished, “Please do the right thing. Please take your photos. It could save their lives. “

The president received his first dose on December 21 and the second three weeks later, the January 11, with his wife, Jill Biden, days before taking office after expiring in November. It was not clear whether the first lady would also receive the booster dose on Monday.

After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration cleared the Pfizer recall on Friday, Biden told reporters, “I will receive the recall. It’s hard to recognize that I’m over 65, but I’m going to call myself back ”. “

Vice President Kamala Harris, 56, has received the Moderna vaccine, for which federal regulators have not yet authorized booster shots, but are expected to do so in the coming weeks.

Biden became an advocate for booster doses this summer, when the United States saw a surge in cases of the more transmissible delta variant coronavirus. Although the vast majority of cases continue to occur among unvaccinated people, regulators pointed to testing from Israel and early studies in the United States showing that protection against so-called advanced cases was significantly improved with a third dose. vaccine from Pfizer.

However, aggressive pressure from the United States for reinforcements, before many of the poorest countries were able to provide even minimal protection to their most vulnerable populations, angered the public. the World Health Organization and some aid groups, which have called on the United States to suspend third injections to free up supplies for the global immunization effort.

Biden said last week that the United States was buying an additional 500 million doses of the vaccine from Pfizer – for a total of $ 1 billion over the next year – to donate to less fortunate countries.

(With AP information)

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