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WASHINGTON – Vice President Mike Pence has received Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.
Pence joined second lady Karen Pence and Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams in publicly receiving the vaccine’s first dose on Friday morning.
“Make no mistake about it. It’s a medical miracle. The average vaccine, I’m told by experts, usually takes between eight and 12 years to develop and manufacture and distribute. But we’re on track here in the United States to administer millions of doses to the American people in less than one year. It is a miracle indeed,” Pence said.
The FDA approved the Pfizer vaccine last week, making it the first coronavirus vaccine approved for emergency use in the United States. Shipments of the vaccine began Sunday with health care workers receiving the shot throughout the week.
An FDA advisory committee Thursday endorsed Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine with the FDA’s green light for emergency use expected quickly. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine are two doses.
It is unknown when President Donald Trump will receive the vaccine or whether first lady Melania Trump, who came down with COVID-19 at the same time as her husband, would be vaccinated.
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 inoculation.
“The president wants to send a parallel message which is, you know, our long-term care facility residents and our front-line workers are paramount in importance,” she said.
President-elect Joe Biden is scheduled to receive the vaccine next week.
Biden said on Tuesday that Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert, advised him to get the vaccine “sooner than later.” Biden has said that he wants to keep front-line health care workers and vulnerable people as the top priority as the vaccine is rolled out throughout the country.
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