COVID-19: Biden Receives Vaccine On Live TV
Top politicians take turns to assure American public
In bid to show Americans that Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines are safe, President-elect Joe Biden has expressed thanks to medical staff after taking first dose of Pfizer vaccine in front of cameras.
Biden, who received his first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on live US television Monday afternoon in keeping with public officials’ efforts to show Americans such vaccines are safe, said the Trump administration ‘deserves great credit’ for the breakthrough.
Shortly after 3.20pm, the President-elect had 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,” Biden said.
Already, top US politicians, including Vice President Mike Pence, Democratic House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and Republican Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, have gotten doses of the vaccine, putting them among the first Americans to receive injections.
By publicizing their injections taken on Friday, December 18, 2020 and showing no adverse reactions, these officials are hoping to stem a rising tide of scepticism about vaccine safety and efficacy.
Also, Vice President-elect, Kamala Harris 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. – The Guardian
