Essex County College
Newark, New Jersey 

Q    Madam Vice President — Madam Vice President, we’re seeing now (inaudible) booster shots are outpacing people who are getting first doses.  What does that say about —
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Listen —
 
Q    What is the message —
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Let me — the message is this: Vaccines will save your life. 
 
When you look at the people who are currently in hospitals, in ICU rooms, who are near death — it breaks my heart — I’m sure all of us — when we see those videos of folks who are on what it turns out to be their deathbed, begging the people they know, “Please, get vaccinated.”  
 
And here’s the thing: For any of us who have had that awful experience of holding the hand of somebody we love while they’re in an ICU bed — none of us should want to put anybody we love through that.  And the way to do that is: Get vaccinated.  It’s free, it is cheap, and it will save your life, period. 
 
And that’s why I’m here.  And to applaud the governor and Mayor Baraka, and the — the executive of the county, and the congressmember for all the work that they have been doing here in New Jersey as a model of what we can do and continue to do around the country.
 
But we cannot give up.  We have to be vigorous.
 
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