WASHINGTON – Vice President Mike Pence and House and Senate leaders received their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on Friday as they tried to reassure the U.S. public that the shot is safe. Pence, at a live TV event, celebrated the milestone as “a medical miracle” that could end a furious pandemic that has killed more than 310,000 people across the country.
Absent evident: President Donald Trump, who has been left out of sight five days after the largest vaccination campaign in the country’s history.
“She was OK. Well done, ”Pence told Walter Reed National Military Medical Center technicians Friday morning as he became the highest-ranking U.S. officer to receive the shot from Pfizer-BioNTech, the first authorized in the U.S.
Later, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, tweeted photos of themselves receiving the Capitol doctor’s vaccine, which urged all members of the House. Congress to join.
Public displays appear as top U.S. health officials try to convince regular Americans that they may be skeptical of vaccines to get them to pave the way at the end of the pandemic.
A recent survey by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that only about half of Americans want to get the vaccine as soon as possible. Another quarter of the audience is unsure, while the remaining quarter says they are not interested. Some simply oppose vaccines in general. Others are worried that the injections have rushed and want to see how the launch goes.
Trump, who was hospitalized with COVID-19 in October, has been largely absent from the effort to sell to the American public about what helpers expect to be a key part of his legacy. He has not held any public act to trumpet the launch. He has not said when he will be inoculated. And he has tweeted less than a handful of times about vaccines despite sending a series of tweets about other topics.
He weighed in with a congratulatory tweet Friday night after the Food and Drug Administration authorized the emergency release of a second vaccine developed by Moderna Inc. and the National Institutes of Health.
Trump’s relative silence comes as he remains enraged by his defeat in the Nov. 3 election and embraces increasingly extreme efforts to overthrow the will of the people. He has set aside the plans of helpers who wanted him to be the public face of the vaccination campaign, avoiding visits to laboratories and production facilities to thank workers or organizing efforts to build public confidence in the shot, according to the people familiar with the conversations. he spoke on condition of anonymity to speak sincerely.
Instead, Pence has been the one to highlight the safety and effectiveness of vaccines and toured a production plant this week before headlining the event on Friday.
Pence didn’t shudder during the quick puncture, nor did his wife, Karen. Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who is black, was also shot during the televised White House event and stressed the importance of communities of color seeing people like him vaccinated to build trust.
“Today, Karen and I wanted to take a step forward and take this vaccine to assure the American people that while we are reducing administrative paperwork, we are not cutting any corner,” Pence said. “Hope is on its way.”
Trump’s lack of visibility has been striking, especially for a president who rarely shyly takes over credit, said Lawrence Gostin, a Georgetown Law professor who focuses on public health.
“The president’s relatively low profile on COVID’s response since the election is curious and contrary to Trump’s own interests,” he said. Gostin, who has criticized Trump’s treatment of the pandemic in the past, said he “deserves great credit” for Operation Warp Speed and called for two vaccines that use innovative mRNA technology. .
“Having demonstrated leadership in vaccine development, you should be very proud to publicly demonstrate your confidence in COVID vaccines,” he said.
Trump appeared at a White House “summit” before the Pfizer vaccine was approved by the Food and Drug Administration last week. But many Trump aides are baffled by his low profile now that the vaccine is actually being injected. They see it as a missed opportunity for the president, who is stepping down on Jan. 20, to apply for credit to help oversee the rapid development and deployment of the vaccine that is expected to eventually contain the virus.
Trump himself has been concerned that the credit goes to his successor, Biden, who will chair the bulk of the national injection campaign next year.
“Don’t let Joe Biden get credit for the shots,” Trump told reporters. “Don’t allow vaccines to be credited because I was me, and I pushed people harder than ever before.”
In fact, it was the FDA scientists who came up with the idea for Operation Warp Speed, the White House-backed effort to make millions of doses of coronavirus vaccines and treatments, although they are still ‘are evaluating. And much of the basis for the firings was laid over the last decade, including research on messenger RNA or mRNA, used in vaccines developed by both Pfizer and Moderna.
Trump’s discreet approach could have an impact on public health. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease expert, told NBC News this week that 75% to 85% of the nation must be vaccinated to achieve “herd immunity,” campaigning of public education on vaccine safety even more pressing.
Trump has said he would be open to getting a vaccine. White House Deputy Secretary of Press Brian Morgenstern told reporters that because Trump already had COVID-19, his doctors have tried to determine when he should take it.
“When the time comes, I’m sure he’ll be willing to take it,” he said.
According to guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is still not enough information to determine whether those who have had COVID-19, such as Trump, should get the vaccine.
But White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany offered an alternative explanation. He told reporters this week that Trump, who has previously spread misinformation about other vaccines, “wants to send a parallel message that is, as you know, our residents in long-term care facilities and the our front-line workers are of paramount importance. “
Gostin disagreed. “It will be hugely detrimental to public confidence in the vaccine if President Trump is not visibly enthusiastic, including his shooting on national television,” he argued. “It’s just not good enough to have Vice President Pence as a representative.”
Some lawmakers have said they are reluctant to be among the first to get vaccinated, so they are not seen jumping their tails. But others made appointments enthusiastically.
“Millions of Americans are waiting for shots, many of whom are workers on the front lines of this pandemic,” tweeted Democratic Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia, who was one of those who received one. “I’m not more important than them, but national leaders must lead by example.”