First Lady Jill Biden Attends Welcome America's Celebration Of Freedom Ceremony On Independence Square
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - As people all across the country commemorate the Fourth of July, Philadelphians kicked off the holiday at Wawa's Welcome America Celebration of Freedom ceremony.
The guest speaker: First Lady Dr. Jill Biden.
"There is no place this Philly girl would rather be than here with you now as your First Lady," Dr. Jill Biden said.
During her speech, the Delaware Valley native discussed high vaccination rates and promises President Joe Biden made on the campaign trail to bring the country together.
"It was hard, wasn't it? And there was some who asked, you know if we were up to the challenge but we answered them didn't we?" she said.
According to Dr. Biden as of last week, 70% of adults in Philadelphia have gotten at least one COVID-19 shot.
"We're not in the clear yet, but summer has not felt more full of possibility," Dr. Biden said.
It's a milestone made possible -in part -by the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium.
"The consortium led by Dr. Ala Stanford created mobile COVID-19 testing. Testing and vaccination operations in the communities in Philadelphia that needed it the most," Mayor Jim Kenney said.
Mayor Jim Kenney awarded the group with the sixth annual Magis Award for service.
Results Dr. Stanford says you can see in events like this one.
"We can have this gathering because 70% of us were vaccinated… let's protect some more vulnerable folks by all of us getting vaccinated and push it up to 80 to 99%," Stanford said.
Dr. Stanford says this does not end here. People have been coming to the group for their primary care needs and they plan on opening a facility in North Philadelphia.
By CBS3 reporter Jasmine Payoute
