Vice Presidential Pool Reports of April 29, 2021

VP pool report #1 - press motorcade to Baltimore

Greetings from the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.

The VP press pool is taking vans from the White House to Baltimore, where we will meet up with the VP, who is traveling separately.

You'll hear from me again when we connect with the VP. Our eventual destination is the mass vaccination site at M&T Bank Stadium.

Here's the guidance from the White House:

At 1:15PM EDT, the Vice President will travel to Baltimore, Maryland. There will the travel pool coverage of arrival.

At 2:20PM EDT, the Vice President will tour a COVID vaccination site at M&T Bank Stadium. There will be travel pool coverage of this tour.

At 2:55PM EDT, the Vice President will deliver remarks on the progress made during the first 100 days in office. These remarks will be covered by the travel pool and livestreamed on WhiteHouse.gov/Live.

At 4:10PM EDT, the Vice President will depart Baltimore en route Washington, DC. There will be travel pool coverage of departure.

VP pool report #2 - Marine Two arrival

Marine Two arrived at a landing zone at Port Covington in Baltimore shortly after 1:30 p.m.

VP made the short walk from the helicopter to the awaiting motorcade at 1:38 p.m. We are rolling for the short drive to the stadium.

VP pool report #3 - At M&T Stadium

The pool arrived at M&T Bank Stadium and hustled up to the club level near Section 253, where the mass vaccination site is located. Your pooler did not see the VP get out of the motorcade

The pool saw Sen Chris Van Hollen pass through while awaiting the VP's arrival for a tour. The VP emerged at 2:07 p m. to applause from the assembled vaccinators, support personnel and people receiving vaccines.

She was joined on the tour by officials including Van Hollen and Dr. Anthony Fauci.

The bars on the club level, which are blocked by plexiglass, are being used as the area where vaccine doses are prepared.

Tour underway.

VP pool report #4 - tour concludes. VP remarks upcoming

At 2:15 p.m., the VP stopped by an area where people were waiting after having just received their vaccines, at which point your pooler also noticed Gov. Larry Hogan.

The program is now getting underway with Gov. Hogan starting to speak at 2:34 p.m., who is talking about the conversion of the stadium to the vaccination clinic. The VP will be speaking shortly. Her remarks are going to be streaming on the White House website.

VP pool report #5 - tour participants

Senator Ben Cardin and Rep. John Sarbanes have already spoken ahead of the VP's remarks. We expect the VP to speak shortly.

"Getting the shot is about not only taking care of ourselves, it's about loving our neighbor. It's about being responsible to our community. It's about lifting up the whole, and that's what you all are doing. And so I'm here to visit because here in Baltimore you guys are doing some amazing work, all the health care workers have been working around the clock," the VP said while speaking during the tour.

From the White House, the following individuals joined the Vice President on the tour:

Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director, U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Governor Larry Hogan
Senator Chris Van Hollen
Mayor Brandon Scott
Michael Friends, Executive Director, M&T Bank Stadium
Major General Timothy Gowan, Adjutant General of Maryland, Maryland National Guard
Mike King, Site Manager, M&T Bank Stadium Vaccination Site (Maryland Emergency Management Agency)
Dr. Jason Marx, Vice President of Physician Integration, University of Maryland Medical System and Incident Commander, M&T Bank Stadium Mass Vaccination Site (tour guide)

VP pool report #6 - VP remarks

VP Harris is beginning her remarks at 3 p.m. They are streaming on the White House website.

VP pool report #7 - VP remarks conclude, senior staff and other notes

The VP concluded her formal remarks at 3:20 p.m.

She spoke about encouraging people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, thanking health care workers: "America, you must know, the people working to administer vaccines are heroes," before pivoting to the administration's policy proposals for investing in infrastructure.

The VP said that " "American aspiration has defined these first 100 days."

She spoke about the proposal known as the families plan that the president formally unveiled Wednesday night.

Also, according to Sen. Van Hollen, there was a point on the tour where Dr. Fauci encountered a person wearing a "Trust Fauci" mask.

C-SPAN has posted the video from the tour.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?511358-1/vice-president-harris-visits-vaccination-site-baltimore

Traveling with the VP today are Symone Sanders, Vince Evans, Michael Fuchs, Mike Pyle and Kate Childs Graham, according to the VP's office.

Also, the VP's office said that the full list of today's speakers at the formal program was:
- Governor Hogan
- Mayor Scott
-Congressman Sarbanes
-Senator Cardin
-Senator Van Hollen

The introducer was Melissa Wesby:
Melissa is a resident of Baltimore. She is employed at Johns Hopkins Bayview Hospital and has worked with many COVID patients during the pandemic. She is married and the mother of three kids ages, 8, 10 and 12.

VP pool report #8 - Marine Two departure from Baltimore

The motorcade made a quick departure from M&T Bank Stadium. We arrived back at the landing zone at 3:47 p.m. and the VP boarded Marine Two at 3:48 p.m.

Marine Two was wheels up at 3:51 p.m. Your pooler notes that we were close to the chopper as it took off, I will attempt to tweet a brief video of that scene.

The motorcade, without the VP, is heading back to DC.