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(CNN) –– The president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden, received his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech on live television on Monday. During that time, Biden reaffirmed to Americans the safety of the vaccine.
The vaccine, which Biden received in his left arm, was administered at the ChristianaCare facility at Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware. Tabe Mase, a nurse practitioner and head of employee health services at the hospital, vaccinated the president-elect, according to Biden’s transition team.
Biden on the vaccine: “This is a great, great, hope”
“We owe a lot to these people,” Biden said, thanking those who participated in the development and distribution of the vaccine. As well as frontline healthcare workers.
Biden also mentioned that the Trump administration deserved “some credit” for Operation Warp Speed, the federal government’s vaccine program. Also for his role in making vaccination against the coronavirus possible.
“I also think it’s worth saying that this is a great, great, hope. I do this to show that people should be prepared, when available, to receive the vaccine. There is nothing to worry about. I’m looking forward to the second dose, also Jill, “added Biden.
‘He had his injection earlier today. He loves them, I know, ”he said, taking his wife’s hand as she laughed.
Biden noted that vaccination is in the early stages. And he warned Americans about the long way to go.
“It’s going to take time,” he said.
Listen to public health experts and wear masks
The president-elect urged Americans, meanwhile, to listen to public health experts and wear masks. Also social distancing and not traveling unless absolutely necessary during the Christmas season.
“Because we’re still in the middle of this,” Biden continued. “It is one thing for the vaccine to reach a hospital, and another for the vaccine from that vial to be inserted into a needle, into an arm.”
Biden’s vaccination occurs one week after the first doses of the vaccine were injected into healthcare workers. Additionally, it comes days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorization for a second coronavirus vaccine. Incoming first lady Jill Biden also received the vaccine on Monday, Biden’s transition team told reporters.
The Pfizer vaccine requires two doses, given several weeks apart, to be 95% effective. The transition team has not provided details on when the Bidens will receive the second dose.
Biden’s transition spokesperson Jen Psaki said Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, would receive their vaccinations next week.
Biden and Harris get shots at different times
The nation’s top infectious disease specialist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told ABC last week that he would strongly recommend that Biden and Harris get vaccinated as soon as possible. He also recommended that President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence receive the vaccine.
Biden told CNN’s Jake Tapper earlier this month that he would get the vaccine as soon as Fauci told him it was safe. And he added that he would do it in public to show his confidence in her.
Psaki told reporters that Biden and Harris would receive the vaccine at different times on the recommendation of medical experts. The reason could be that if Biden and Harris experience reported side effects, they wouldn’t have them on the same day. These possible effects include a headache or fever.
Pence, Second Lady Karen Pence and Sanitation Director General Jerome Adams received the vaccine at an on-camera event last week. The Trump administration has said that the vice president receiving the vaccine in public was part of the administration’s efforts to build public confidence in the vaccine’s safety and efficacy.
Trump has not yet received the vaccine. And one will not be given until recommended by the White House medical team, an official told CNN last week. The president still has the benefits of the monoclonal antibody cocktail he was given after he tested positive for COVID-19 this fall, the White House official said. However, you will likely receive the vaccine once the medical team recommends it.
Part of Biden’s plan to fight the pandemic includes distributing 100 million vaccine injections, enough to cover 50 million people, in his first 100 days in office. The coronavirus pandemic has claimed the lives of more than 318,000 Americans as of Monday afternoon.
