Congressman Raul Ruiz on vaccinating his constituents: "It's providing hope"
Washington — When Congress is out, the doctor is in.
California Congressman Raul Ruiz is an emergency room physician who trades in a suit coat for a lab coat to vaccinate his own constituents.
"For me, it's doctoring," Ruiz told CBS News. "It's going back to my heart and soul."
His heart and soul is his desert district outside of Los Angeles.
Nearly half of the population is Hispanic. But they comprise 65% of COVID infections and only 19% have gotten the vaccine.
"I'm from that very same community of medically underserved individuals. My parents were farmworkers," Ruiz said. "I always dreamed of being a doctor and coming back and serving the underserved."
Ruiz had coronavirus earlier this year and just got vaccinated. Now, he's administering hundreds of doses.
"It's not the mechanics of vaccinating. It's providing hope," he said. "I love doing it ... as a congressman to show that the government needs to work for the people."
