The conversation co-host and fitness star Amanda Kloots she obtained her first coronavirus vaccine more than seven months after losing her husband to the deadly virus, and defended herself amid accusations of skipping the line to receive the vaccine.
Broadway actor Nick Cordero, the father of his 20-month-old son Elvis, died of COVID-19 complications at age 41 last July at a Los Angeles medical center. Kloots, who posted almost daily vlogs on Instagram Story and inspired fans with his supportive dance videos recorded outside the hospital during his three-month stay, headed to a coronavirus vaccine distribution drive-thru site on Friday , February 19, with her son and two friends to get her first chance.
“I just received my COVID 19 vaccine!” she wrote on Instagram, next to a photo of her wearing a mask while sitting in a vehicle while a masked health worker administered the vaccine through a window. “I went to a location and waited in my car until all the appointments were over, in the hope that they would have some extra vaccine. I was fully prepared to be rejected, but they said they had enough tonight for everyone to wait.”
She continued, “I can’t tell you how excited I was and still am now. I had Elvis by my side and Live Your Life playing in the car. THANK YOU to the National Guard who was here today as a volunteer since 5:30 am administering the Pfizer vaccine into willing arms. I’ve been terrified since Nick died, as a single mother, of catching this virus and now I’m one step closer to safety. “
Stars open up about battles against Coronavirus
In Los Angeles, only essential workers and people over 65 are currently eligible to receive the vaccine. However, in the past two months, dozens of people across the United States who do not meet formal eligibility requirements and are nicknamed “COVID-19 vaccine hunters” have flocked to dispensing sites to request any remaining doses – they would have expired soon otherwise.
Kloots’s post was met with great praise, including from Emily in Paris actress Ashley Park who called her “a model, an incredible mother and a diligent citizen”. But her photo initially did not contain the caption in which she explained how she had obtained the vaccine, and she added it after receiving criticism. Many people questioned how she, an apparently healthy 38-year-old woman, qualified for one and some accused her of “celebrity privilege”.
Kloots replied, “Please explain to me how to drive to a location 45 minutes from my house, wait in my car with my son who should be in bed, stay there until all the day’s appointments are over, and then asking if there are any extra vaccines that would not otherwise be used are celebrity privileges? “
She added: “I am a relentless single mother who is afraid of this virus and of leaving my child, so I try in every way I can, happy to be rejected if necessary, to receive a vaccine that would otherwise be thrown away . “
Kloots also posted a story on Instagram, saying, firmly and with emotion, “I knew it could possibly be rejected, but I drove and waited in a line hoping that at the end of the day, at the end of the appointments, they might have extra vaccines that would be thrown away. And instead of being thrown away, they were put on one arm. An arm of a surviving single mother who deserves to have an extra vaccine that would have been thrown in the trash. “
“So, I’m sorry to be getting a little emotional, but this was a very emotional experience for me,” she said. “I was perfectly fine being refused tonight, if that were the case. I was really prepared to be refused. I was trying, and luckily the injection worked and they were available and were happy to have people waiting with willing arms. And I I was happy to be one of those volunteer arms. So, please don’t be ashamed of the vaccine in my photo after this day, where I am so grateful to have this first step to vaccinate against this virus. “