Joe Biden received his first dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine on live US television on Monday afternoon, in keeping with public officials’ efforts to show Americans such vaccines are safe.
Shortly after 3.20pm, Biden appeared before cameras at a medical facility. He rolled up his sleeve and said: “I’m ready.” After the jab, Biden thanked scientists and medical workers, saying their efforts were “just amazing”.
He also praised the White House, saying “I think that the administration deserves some credit getting this off the ground” and that the vaccine provides “great hope”.
“There’s nothing to worry about,” Biden also said of receiving the vaccine. He said that his wife, Jill Biden, had already received her first dose earlier in the day.
Covid-19 has killed at least 317,684 people in the US and infected nearly 17.9 million, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The same source recorded 189,099 new cases on Sunday and 1,509 deaths, both figures down on record highs last week but for weekend days, when numbers usually drop.
The Covid Tracking Project said 113,633 people were hospitalized, another small drop. Hospital and intensive care capacity is under intense strain.
The first shots of the Moderna vaccine, which like the Pfizer-BioNTech shot requires two doses but which is easier to store, were packed and shipped from Tennessee on Sunday.
“I don’t want to get ahead of the line, but I want to make sure we demonstrate to the American people that it is safe to take,” the president-elect said.
Top US politicians – including Mike Pence, the vice-president, Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic House speaker, and Mitch McConnell, Republican Senate majority leader – received doses on Friday, putting them among the first Americans to receive injections. By publicizing their injections, and showing no adverse reactions, they hope to stem a rising tide of skepticism about vaccine safety and efficacy. Kamala Harris, the vice-president elect, and her husband are poised to get their first doses next week.
Such efforts to show the inoculations are safe are increasingly important, given recent data on American attitudes toward Covid-19 vaccines. While half of Americans said they would take the vaccine, according to a recent poll, one-quarter of adults said they would not, while another quarter said they weren’t sure.
Experts have said that “herd immunity” – when the overall population is largely immune because a significant portion of it is – will be seen when 60% to 70% reach some level of immunity. Therefore, convincing more Americans the vaccine is safe could have a dramatic impact on efforts to stop the spread of Covid-19.
Notably absent from these public campaigns is Donald Trump. He has mostly remained out of the public eye while continuing to fume over his loss to Biden – and weighing increasingly long-shot attempts to hold on to power. Trump, who has expressed misinformation about vaccine safety, has not disclosed when he will get his first dose.
Earlier in December, Trump said on Twitter that he was “not scheduled” to receive it, but was looking “forward to doing so at the appropriate time”. White House officials have claimed that Trump is speaking with his doctors about timing.
In October, Trump was hospitalized with coronavirus. He attributed his speedy recovery to experimental monoclonal antibody treatment. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stated that people who received such treatment should not receive the vaccine for a minimum of 90 days, to prevent any possible interference.
“When the time is right, I’m sure he will remain willing to take it,” a White House spokesman, Brian Morgenstern, said on Friday. “It’s just something we’re working through.”
Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary, gave a different explanation, telling reporters part of Trump’s decision to wait was “to show Americans that our priority are the most vulnerable.
“The president wants to send a parallel message, which is, you know, our long-term care facility residents and our frontline workers are paramount in importance, and he wants to set an example in that regard.”
This position is at odds with other experts including Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious diseases expert.
“Even though the president himself was infected, and he has, likely, antibodies that likely would be protective, we’re not sure how long that protection lasts. So, to be doubly sure, I would recommend that he get vaccinated,” Fauci told ABC.
Moncef Slaoui, who leads the federal vaccination program, told CNN the vaccine was safe for people who have recovered from coronavirus and presents stronger and possibly longer protection than past infection.
“We know that infection doesn’t induce a very strong immune response and it wanes over time,” he said. “So I think, as a clear precaution, it is appropriate to be vaccinated because it’s safe. I think people should be vaccinated, indeed.”