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Vice President Mike Pence became the highest-ranking US official to receive the COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, as President Donald Trump remains in hiding regarding the vaccine effort.
Pence, along with his wife Karen and Surgeon General Jerome Adams, received an injection of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on live television on Friday morning as part of their ongoing effort to promote the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine.
“Make no mistake, it is a medical miracle,” Pence said after his vaccination during an event at the White House compound. “But with the increase in cases across the country, with the increase in hospitalizations across the country, we have a long way to go.”
“Surveillance and vaccination are our way. And building trust in the vaccine is what brings us here this morning, ”Pence said.
In particular, Trump was not present at Friday’s event.
Trump launched Operation Warp Speed, the government’s campaign to help develop and distribute vaccines quickly, in May 2020 to great fanfare in the Rose Garden of the White House.
But now, five days after the largest vaccination drive in the nation’s history, Trump has held no public events to herald the launch. He himself has not been inoculated. He’s only tweeted twice about the shot.
Meanwhile, Pence has taken center stage. In addition to receiving a dose of the vaccine on Friday, Pence visited a vaccine production facility this week. Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday they will be vaccinated in the next few days. President-elect Joe Biden expects to receive his vaccination next week.
Trump’s relative silence comes as he continues to be locked in defeat in the Nov.3 election and embraces increasingly extreme efforts to override the will of the people. He has pushed aside the plans of aides 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 vaccine, according to people familiar with the conversations. .
The timid approach has been surprising, especially for a president who is rarely ashamed to take credit, said Lawrence Gostin, a Georgetown Law professor who focuses on public health.
“The relatively low profile of the president on the COVID response since the election is curious and contrary to the interests of Trump himself,” Gostin told The Associated Press news agency. Gostin, who has criticized Trump’s handling of the pandemic in the past, said he “deserves a lot of credit” for Operation Warp Speed and for betting on two vaccines using groundbreaking mRNA technology.
“Having shown leadership in vaccine development, you should be proud to publicly demonstrate your confidence in COVID vaccines,” he said.
Trump appeared at a “summit” at the White House before the Food and Drug Administration approved the Pfizer vaccine last week. That event included an introductory video highlighting past comments from those, including the government’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who doubted an injection would be ready this year.
But many Trump aides are baffled by his low profile now that the vaccine is being injected. They see it as a missed opportunity for the president, who leaves office at noon on January 20, to claim credit for helping oversee the rapid development and deployment of the vaccine that is expected to eventually contain the virus that has killed more. than 310,000 Americans.
Trump himself has tried to downplay any credit that might go to Biden, who will preside over most of the nationwide injection campaign next year.
“Don’t let Joe Biden take credit for the vaccines,” Trump told reporters. “Don’t let the vaccines take credit because the vaccines were me, and I put more pressure on people than I ever have before.”
Despite Trump’s claims, FDA scientists were the ones who came up with the idea for Operation Warp Speed, the White House-backed effort through which millions of doses of coronavirus vaccines and treatments are being manufactured even as they are still being evaluated. And much of the groundwork for injections was established over the past 10 years, including through research into the messenger RNA, or mRNA, used in vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna. Pfizer developed its vaccine outside of Operation Warp Speed, but is partnering with the federal government on manufacturing and distribution.
Trump’s low-key approach could have an impact on public health. Fauci told NBC News this week that 75 to 85 percent of the nation needs to be vaccinated to achieve “herd immunity,” making the public education campaign on vaccine safety even more urgent.
A poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that only half of Americans want to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Another room in the audience is unsure, while the remaining room says they are not interested. Some are simply opposed to vaccines in general. Others are concerned that the injections were rushed and want to see how the rollout goes.
As Trump sat on the sidelines, some of his favorite commentators, including Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, questioned the safety of the vaccine.
While top officials are beginning to make plans to receive the vaccine in public to help build public trust, Trump, who was hospitalized with COVID-19 in October, is taking his time.
According to guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is not enough information yet to determine whether those who have had COVID-19, like Trump, should receive the vaccine. Still, Fauci recommended that Trump take it publicly without delay.
“Even though the president himself was infected, and probably has antibodies that would probably be protective, we are not sure how long that protection will last. So to be doubly sure, I would recommend that you get vaccinated just like the vice president, ”Fauci told ABC News.
It was unclear if First Lady Melania Trump, who contracted COVID-19 at the same time as her husband, would be vaccinated.
White House Undersecretary of Press Brian Morgenstern said Trump “will continue to update the country through a variety of means while giving OWS medical professionals and hardworking staff the space to do their jobs and save lives.”
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters this week that Trump, who has previously spread misinformation about other vaccines, was trying to send a message about priorities by delaying his own vaccination.
“The President wants to send a parallel message that is, you know, the residents of our long-term care facilities and our frontline workers are of the utmost importance,” he said.
Gostin disagreed. “It will be hugely detrimental to public confidence in the vaccine if President Trump is not visibly enthusiastic, even if he receives his vaccine on national television,” he argued. “It is simply not enough to have Vice President Pence as your representative.”
Presidents and their families have often displayed their vaccinations to boost public confidence. President Dwight Eisenhower noted that one of his grandchildren was among the first wave of American children vaccinated against polio. In 2009, President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, vaccinated their two young daughters, who were in a higher risk group, against swine flu.
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