HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- First Lady of the United States Dr. Jill Biden was in Henrico on Friday as she visited a clinic administering doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to kids between the age of six months and five years old.
Friday's meet-and-greet comes less than two weeks after a Pfizer and Moderna vaccine was approved for roughly 18 million kids in the United States.
Each vaccine uses mRNA technology but differs in dosage, how many shots are needed and what ages can take them.
The parents of nine-month-old Patrick chose Moderna because it only requires two shots.
"This guy was born in September and we've been waiting since then to get vaccinated," said his mother, Dr. Cathy Marcelo, who added she was among the first to receive a COVID-19 vaccine when it was first approved as she is a physician.
"Well, I hope you have a great Fourth of July and it must make you feel so much better too knowing your entire family is safe," Dr. Biden said to the family afterwards.
Dr. Biden was joined by White House COVID-19 Response Team Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha who spoke to parents' concerns about the amount of time it took to get approval for this age group, saying it took longer because they wanted to get it right.
"Both of which are extraordinarily safe, both of which are extraordinarily effective at keeping kids out of the hospital," Dr. Jha said.
A Kaiser Family Foundation poll in April found only 18% of parents planned to get the vaccine, 27% said "definitely not", while 38% wanted to wait and see how others fared.
Dr. Biden encouraged those parents to speak to their healthcare providers about any concerns they might have.
"Parents, this is your choice. And we want you to have all the information you need to make that choice," Dr. Biden said.
The Richmond and Henrico Health Districts said since the vaccine was approved for this age group, approximately 220 doses have been administered.
The Virginia Department of Health said as of Thursday, June 30 11,341 doses have been administered to the newly eligible age group. A spokesperson added there are approximately 558,000 children in Virginia between the ages of six months to five-years-old.
