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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US Vice President Mike Pence received his COVID-19 vaccine live on television on Friday, seeking to shore up public support for the vaccines as US regulators were about to approve a second one. vaccine for emergency use.
Pence said he “felt nothing” after he, his wife Karen Pence and Surgeon General Jerome Adams rolled up their sleeves and received injections from white-coated medical personnel, becoming the highest-profile recipients to receive the vaccine publicly.
After deaths in the US from coronavirus surpassed 3,000 for the third day in a row, Pence called the vaccines a hopeful sign, with 20 million doses expected to be distributed nationwide by the end of December and hundreds of millions more in the first half of 2021..
“I also believe that history will record that this week was the beginning of the end of the coronavirus pandemic, but with the increase in cases across the country and the increase in hospitalizations across the country, we have a way to go,” Pence said. , leader of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
Hospitalizations in the United States have set records in each of the past 20 days, approaching 114,000 on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally.
Health experts have warned of a deepening crisis this winter as intensive care units fill up and hospital beds overflow down corridors.
The United States reported a record 239,903 new cases on Thursday, when the death toll in the United States surpassed 311,000.
The Pences and Adams were injected with the vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SE, which was approved last week. A second vaccine, from Moderna Inc, was expected to gain regulatory approval from the Food and Drug Administration on Friday, Pence said.
Those vaccines require two doses, given three to four weeks apart, while others in development may require only a single dose. All have developed with unprecedented speed in less than a year, thanks to technological advances and the urgency of the global pandemic.
Beyond the logistical challenge of the most ambitious vaccination campaign in decades, health officials must convince a skeptical public that they are safe and effective. A recent Reuters / Ipsos poll found that only 61% of Americans were open to getting vaccinated.
Pence and Adams are publicly vaccinated “it’s symbolic to tell the rest of the country that now is the time to step up, and when their time comes, get vaccinated,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Allergy Institute. and Infectious Disease.
Front-line healthcare workers, first responders and nursing home residents have been prioritized, but a parade of high-profile coups could soon follow. Fauci, who still sees patients, has said he could get the vaccine in a few days.
Former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama volunteered for public vaccines, and President-elect Joe Biden, who will take office Jan. 20, will receive his next week, his aides said.
While outgoing President Donald Trump has yet to embrace messages about social distancing and wearing masks, he has encouraged people to get vaccinated and championed his administration’s Operation Warp Speed program to promote development and the distribution of vaccines.
But Trump, who survived a fight with COVID-19 a few weeks before losing the Nov.3 election to Biden, has yet to announce his plans to receive an injection.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason, Susan Heavey, Idrees Ali and Anurag | Maan; Written by Daniel Trotta; Edited by Gareth Jones, Chizu Nomiyama and Dan Grebler)
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