White House announces six week campaign to boost COVID vaccination

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) -- With the holiday season and family gatherings just around the corner, the Biden administration is kicking it into high gear, to get COVID-19 boosters out.

"We are obviously now entering a higher risk part of the year," said White House COVID Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha.

Jha announced the Biden administration's latest effort to get vaccines in arms is a six week campaign to reach seniors and communities hit hard by COVID-19.

"We're doing everything we can in the next six weeks to help families get their updated COVID shots by the end of the year," Jha said.

The White House says only about 11 percent of Americans have received the updated booster and what happens next in the pandemic may depend on getting that number higher.

"We have within our wherewithal to mitigate anything that comes our way," said Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci.

During what was possibly his last time at the White House podium before his December retirement, Fauci urged Americans to take every step necessary.

"Masking, vaccine, boosting, testing, all of that is part of the spectrum of protecting yourself and your family," Fauci said.

Both Jha and Fauci emphasized Americans can rely on the science behind the vaccine.

"We want to make our decisions based on facts, evidence, and data," Fauci said.

"You can decide to trust America's physicians or you can trust some random dude on Twitter," Jha said.

The White House will also call on Congress to provide $10 billion in supplemental funding as part of the next government funding bill.