First lady Jill Biden visited Beach High School Thursday and urged community members to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Biden made two stops at the Savannah high school and was joined by Sen. Raphael Warnock and Savannah Mayor Van Johnson.
The event was a part of the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System’s efforts to vaccinate students ahead of in-person instruction starting in the fall.
The first stop at 3 p.m. was at a temporary COVID-19 vaccination site in the school’s cafeteria. Biden, Warnock and Johnson met three individuals who were waiting to get their first dose, two sisters aged 15 and 18 and Savannah resident Alfred Lee Smith.
Smith, 56, received his one-time dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at the site. He said his hesitancy to get the vaccine was due to some negative effects people his age and younger had experienced, but he was encouraged by his sister to finally receive his dose.
“I think it just moves us farther along,” Smith said. “You see somebody my age, a middle-aged guy — big guy — going to do it, and maybe that motivates other people.”
Before leaving the vaccination site, the first lady stopped to thank the healthcare workers who Johnson called “the best in the nation.”
“I hope that people honor you by coming out and getting vaccinated because you came, you worked every single day and you put your lives on the line,” Biden said. “We appreciate all that you’ve done.”
At their second stop in the gym around 4:15 p.m., Mayor Johnson gave a few remarks to over 100 community members and introduced Warnock, a Savannah native, who opened his speech with three questions: “How many of you know somebody who has died because of COVID? How many of you have been affected by COVID? How many of you know someone else that was impacted?”
About two-thirds of the audience raised their hand to show they knew someone who’d died, about one-third said they have been affected by COVID-19 and two-thirds said they knew someone who was impacted.
A majority of the audience said they were over the age of 60 and had been vaccinated.
“'I’m a preacher, so I know that I'm preaching to the choir,” Warnock said. “I need you to go out and be evangelists and tell other folks to get the vaccine.”
According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, 43% of Chatham County residents have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine with those 65 and older having received a majority of the vaccinations. Concerns over the contagious Delta variant and a possible resurgence in cases have doubled down efforts to get people vaccinated.
“As far as we’ve come, we're not done yet,” Biden said once she took the podium. “I'm here to ask you, to plead with you, to please get vaccinated.”
Biden, with the help of Savannah's Dr. Bonzo Reddick, also emphasized the safety, effectiveness and accessibility of the vaccines. She said the way to stop the virus is if everyone in the community does their part.
“Even one hospitalization, one life lost, is too many,” Biden said. “When you decide to get vaccinated, you're protecting yourself and your community. You make it safer for your kids, your family members, your church friends.”
Before leaving for Orlando, Florida, to attend the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee Finals, Biden made a surprise visit to Green Truck Neighborhood Pub co-owned by married couple Whitney Shephard-Yates and Josh Yates. The team at Green Truck Pub is celebrating being fully vaccinated and safely reopening their dining room.
Laura Nwogu is the quality of life reporter for Savannah Morning News. Contact her at LNwogu@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: FLOTUS Jill Biden pleads with Savannah residents to get vaccinated: 'We're not done yet'
