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WASHINGTON: U.S. Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris received her COVID-19 vaccine live on television on Tuesday (Dec. 29) and urged public opinion to trust the process, while her choice of hospital highlighted the difficult situation of the African American community.
Harris, wearing a mask, received the first of his two injections at United Medical Center, located in an area of Washington, DC with a large African-American population.
African-American communities across the country have seen disproportionately high levels of deaths and illnesses related to the COVID-19 pandemic, while surveys have also indicated that they are among the most reluctant to get vaccinated.
“So I want to remind people that right in your community is where you can get the vaccine, where people you might know will receive it,” he said after receiving the vaccine manufactured by the American firm Moderna.
“That’s why I want to remind people that they have reliable sources of help and that is where they can go to get the vaccine.”
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Harris will become the first black and Indian-American vice president when she takes office on January 20, as well as the first woman in office.
Her husband Doug Emhoff was also going to be vaccinated.
A number of public officials have been vaccinated on camera as part of efforts to overcome public skepticism and convince those who have doubts that immunizations are vital to returning to a semblance of normalcy in the coming months.
President-elect Joe Biden was vaccinated live on television on December 21.
Outgoing President Donald Trump, who was hospitalized with the virus in October, has not vowed to get vaccinated.
Trump has repeatedly downplayed the dangerousness of the virus and called for businesses and schools to reopen despite its rise across the country.
The United States has recorded about 19.3 million cases and more than 335,000 deaths related to the virus, both the highest in the world, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.
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