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WASHINGTON: President-elect Joe Biden will receive the COVID-19 vaccine next week, transition officials said Wednesday (Dec. 16), as US authorities try to build public confidence in a move that promises to stop the deadly pandemic.
Vice President Mike Pence will receive the vaccine on Friday, the White House said.
Both men will receive the vaccine publicly in an effort to increase confidence in the safety of the vaccine, which will be widely available to the public next year.
President Donald Trump will receive the vaccine himself as soon as his medical team determines it is better, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Tuesday.
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Initial doses of the vaccine, which became available this week, have been reserved for doctors, nurses, and other front-line medical workers, along with nursing home residents and staff and some U.S. government officials.
US officials are aiming to get 2.9 million doses of the vaccine, developed by Pfizer and German partner BioNTech, by the weekend.
At least 304,187 Americans have died from the disease, according to a Reuters tally, and 16.7 million have been infected, about 5 percent of the population.
Pence’s wife, Karen, and Surgeon General Jerome Adams will also receive the vaccine on Friday, the White House said.
The news comes as Biden is building his new administration before taking office on January 20.
On Wednesday, he presented former presidential rival Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday as his pick for the United States Secretary of Transportation to take the lead in improving America’s aging infrastructure.
Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, would be the first openly gay cabinet secretary confirmed by the Senate if approved.
“The Biden-Harris Cabinet will be a historic Cabinet: a Cabinet that looks like America, a Cabinet that harnesses the best of America, a Cabinet that is opening doors and breaking down barriers and accessing the full range of talent … in this nation, “Biden said, introducing what is shaping up to be the most diverse cabinet in American history.
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Appearing with Buttigieg in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden said the 38-year-old would face the task of restoring what he called “our dilapidated roads, bridges and ports.” Biden has proposed a massive boost in infrastructure spending.
Buttigieg emerged from relative obscurity to mount a surprisingly robust campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination that Biden eventually won. A military veteran who served in Afghanistan, Buttigieg is at the forefront of the next generation of Democratic politicians and is widely viewed as a future presidential contender.
“I am also aware that the eyes of history are on this appointment, knowing that this is the first time that an American president has sent an openly LGBTQ cabinet member to the Senate for confirmation,” Buttigieg said.
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