President Joe Biden acted as "consoler in chief" as he surveyed damage caused by severe winter storms in Texas and encouraged people to get COVID-19 vaccinations while speaking at a COVID-19 vaccination center.

Biden and his wife, Jill, traveled to Houston for the president’s first trip to a major disaster site since he took office a little over a month ago.

“We will be true partners to help you recover and rebuild from the storms and this pandemic and the economic crisis," Biden said to Texans on Friday evening. "We're in for the long haul."

Severe winter weather across the South over Valentine’s Day weekend battered multiple states, with Texas bearing the brunt of unseasonably frigid conditions that caused widespread power outages and frozen pipes that burst and flooded homes. Millions of residents lost heat and running water.

At least 40 people in Texas died as a result of the storm and, although the weather has returned to more normal temperatures, more than 1 million residents were still under orders to boil water before drinking it.

The storm also delayed the delivery of nearly 6 million vaccines across the country, which Biden said the federal government has more than made up for in the days since, saying: “Even with setbacks from the winter storm, we’re moving in the right direction.”

Biden also touted recent news from the FDA’s advisory panel, which hours earlier gave the green light for Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose coronavirus vaccine to receive Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the FDA. That approval is expected to come as soon as Saturday. 

“We’re going to use every conceivable way to expand the manufacturing of the vaccine, the third vaccine, to make even more rapid progress at getting shots in people’s arms,” Biden said of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. 

Biden also stressed the bipartisan nature of his visit, noting that while Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. John Cornyn — both of whom joined the president during Friday’s visit — are both "conservative Republicans” and there are “plenty of things we disagree” on, all three men support the goal of ramping up vaccinations and supporting Texans in the aftermath of the storm. 

“We're not here today as Democrats or Republicans, we’re here as Americans,” he said. “When a crisis hits our states, like the one that hit Texas, it's not a Republican or a Democrat who is hurting. It’s our fellow Americans who are hurting.”

The president and first lady spent their day touring various locations across Houston that offer support for Texans as they continue to struggle with access to basic needs like food, water, and shelter. 

President Biden first stopped by the Harris County Emergency Operations Center in his Friday visit to Texas, where he was joined by Governor Greg Abbott and welcomed by Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo.

“You’re saving people’s lives. As my mother would say, you’re doing God’s work,” the president told staff at the center, which included both federal, local and state employees.

Texas Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) were also in attendance. Cornyn told reporters he was pleased the president had come to visit, and he noted that help from FEMA would “be important for our recovery.”

Emergency officials said they had distributed 450,000 water bottles and more than 30,000 meals to Texans so far. At the height of last week’s severe weather, more than 1.4 million Houston residents lost power and 3.5 million in the county were under a boil water notice. 

The president was briefed by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, Acting FEMA Administrator Bob Fenton, Chief Nim Kidd of the Texas Division of Emergency Management and Mark Sloan, Homeland Security & Emergency Management Coordinator for Harris County.

Fenton said FEMA had provided more than 20 million dollars in assistance so far.

“Any impediment we pushed forward and over with the whole federal government supporting the state of Texas and local governments” he said.

The president and first lady reconvened at the Houston Food Bank Friday, where the two got a tour of the facility from CEO Brian Greene.

Biden then spoke directly to individual volunteers packing boxes of food on the assembly line, including two young kids.

“I love your shoes,” he told one young girl, leaning down to talk to her and her family for several minutes.

The Houston Food Bank serves 1.1 million people throughout 18 counties in the area, providing food and other essentials. When severe weather hit Texas last week, more than 1.4 million people in Houston area lost power, and 3.5 million were under a boil water notice.

“It’s an incredible place,” the president said. “They’ve got so many talented people here, not just volunteers. Absolutely amazing.”

The Democratic president also toured a mass coronavirus vaccination center run by the federal government at NRG Stadium, home of the NFL's Houston Texans. Biden on Thursday commemorated the 50 millionth COVID-19 vaccination since he took office, halfway toward his goal of 100 million shots by his 100th day in office. Earlier this week, President Biden also marked 500,000 U.S. deaths blamed on the disease with a moment of silence and a candle lighting.

Aboard Air Force One heading to Texas, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki and Deputy National Security Adviser Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall spoke to reporters about the federal response to the disaster in Texas, noting that as of "yesterday afternoon," the government has awarded over $9 million in assistance to Texans.

The White House said Biden’s purpose in visiting would be to support, not scold – and that today would be focused on hearing from emergency responders rather than discussing energy grid matters.

"The president doesn’t view the crisis and the millions of people who’ve been impacted by it as a Democratic or Republican issue," Psaki said Thursday. “He views it as an issue where he’s eager to get relief, to tap into all the resources in the federal government, to make sure the people of Texas know we’re thinking about them, we’re fighting for them and we’re going to continue working on this as they’re recovering.”

Psaki said policy discussions about better weatherization and preparation could come later, “but right now, we’re focused on getting relief to the people of the state.”

Biden wanted to make the trip last week, but said at the time that he held back because he didn’t want his presence and entourage to detract from the recovery effort.

No Texas lawmakers were expected to hitch a ride home aboard Air Force One due to “limitations on space” on the plane, Psaki said.

Members of Congress often tag along when a president visits their state, but Sen. Ted Cruz, who was recently criticized for taking his family to Cancun, Mexico at the height of the aftermath of the winter storm, will not be in attendance. Cruz, a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, is at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida, on Friday morning.

Cruz's office said that he was not invited by the White House; when asked about Cruz and Cornyn traveling with Biden on Air Force Once to Texas, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, "there are some limitations on space."

Cruz, who said that the Cancun trip was a mistake, joked at CPAC Friday that "Orlando is awesome. It's not as nice as Cancun, but it is nice!"

Psaki later confirmed that Cruz neither requested an invitation to the trip, nor was he invited by the White House.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.