Cheers to baseball and COVID-19 vaccinations. Jill Biden and Doug Emhoff visited Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas on June 29. The first lady, 70, and second gentleman, 56, toured the stadium’s vaccination site and chatted with veterans and front-line workers on Tuesday — and also watched a few innings of the game between the Houston Astros and Baltimore Orioles over some nice cold beers.
The visit was part of White House efforts to ramp up coronavirus vaccination efforts in Texas, a state with a low vaccination rate. At the stadium, Jill — donned in a stylish blue moto jacket — spoke to reporters about the vaccination efforts. “The numbers are low here. I think 40 percent of all Texans are vaccinated,” the first lady said, per People, adding, “The president and the vice president [and] Doug and I care about the American people and their health. So that’s why I’m here.”
Doug later echoed similar sentiments, encouraging Texans to get vaccinated. “Everyone wants to come to the baseball games without masks,” he told reporters. “You can do without getting anyone else sick. Save yourself, save others. It’s the right thing to do.” Prior to his statement, Jill reportedly teased Doug about how his hometown baseball team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, lost to the Astros at the 2017 World Series.
“They beat my team, but that’s okay,” he said, laughing after Jill showed him a fan’s World Series replica ring. (In an effort to boost vaccination rates, Minute Maid Stadium is giving sports fans a chance to get free tickets and a replica 2017 World Series ring if they get vaccinated.)
The visit comes after Jill graced the cover of Vogue for the magazine’s August 2021 issue. In the interview published on June 29, the educator opened up about life as the first lady — and signaled a desire to do more. “Now I have a bigger platform and I feel every day, like…. What could I give up? That I would want to give up? Nothing,” she said. “If anything, I feel like adding more things, but I know it’s not possible, because you want to stay centered, because you want to do things well. And there’s so much to do. There is…so. Much. To. Do.“