Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) (R-KY) with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (L) (D-CA) Representative.
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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will receive vaccines against Covid in the coming days after the attending physician in Congress urged lawmakers to sign up.
The doctor, Dr. Brian Monahan, cited federal guidelines designed to ensure the U.S. government works during the pandemic.
Senior U.S. government officials have already begun receiving the vaccine, with Vice President Mike Pence, his wife, Karen, and Surgeon General Jerome Adams receiving the shot live on national television Friday morning.
However, the general public is not expected to receive the vaccine for months, as doses remain limited while Pfizer increases production. Moderna’s vaccine could receive emergency clearance as soon as Friday. Congress is currently negotiating a Covid aid package that is expected to provide several million dollars for vaccine distribution.
Monahan, who is also an assistant physician to the Supreme Court, said the National Security Council informed him that Congress, the court and executive agencies will receive a reduced number of vaccine doses for essential staff.
“My recommendation is absolutely unequivocal: there is no reason why I should postpone receiving this vaccine,” Monahan told Congress in a letter Thursday. “The benefit far outweighs any small risk.”
Monahan stressed in his letter that “the small number of doses of COVID19 vaccine that will be provided to us reflects a fraction of the first batch of vaccines as it is distributed nationwide.” U.S. logistics plans during the first week of the vaccine launch call for 2.9 million doses to go to locations in the 50 states.
Pelosi, D-California, said he will follow the doctor’s instructions and receive the vaccine in the coming days. He called on President Donald Trump to invoke the Defense Production Act to speed up manufacturing and ensure the fair distribution of the vaccine to as many Americans as possible.
McConnell, a survivor of childhood polio, said he would also receive the vaccine in the coming days. The Kentucky Republican expressed concern that polls show that a quarter of U.S. adults are unsure whether they will receive the vaccine when it is available.
“As a survivor of polio, I know both the fear of a disease and the extraordinary promise of hope that vaccines bring,” McConnell said. “I really hope all Kentuckians and Americans heed these tips and accept this safe and effective vaccine.”
More than 100 members of Congress have been quarantined, tested positive or exposed to someone with Covid, according to GovTrack data. As the vaccine is rolled out and members of Congress are aiming for the shot, they have yet to reach an agreement on a Covid relief package that will include billions of dollars for the distribution of the vaccine. Members of a CDC advisory group have warned that state and local governments need more money to administer vaccines.
The U.S. government and the 50 states ration the distribution of the vaccine in several phases according to guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the first phase, front-line health workers and residents in long-term care centers, where nearly 40% of covetous deaths have occurred, will receive the vaccine. A CDC advisory group meets on Sunday to set guidelines on who should receive the vaccine in the next phase of vaccinations.
The New York Times reported Sunday that the White House planned to quickly distribute the vaccine among members of the Western wing who were in close contact with the president. Trump, who caught the virus and was hospitalized for several days in October, announced hours after the Times report that he adjusted the plan and that people working in the White House would receive the vaccine later in the program.
“I don’t plan on getting the vaccine, but I hope to do it at the right time,” the president said in a Twitter post.
At least 52 people connected to Trump and the White House have contracted coronavirus in recent months as senior officials, including the president, who have omitted CDC’s social distancing guidelines.