President-elect Joe Biden received a COVID-19 vaccine today on camera before taking a few questions.
“We owe these folks an awful lot,” Biden said after getting the shot. “The scientists, the people who put this together, the frontline workers, the ones who actually did the clinical work, it’s just amazing…. We owe you big. We really do.” He also took a moment to credit the current administration’s Warp Speed vaccine development and distribution efforts for its part in the vaccine rollout.
“It’s worth saying that there is great hope,” Biden said. “I’m doing this to demonstrate that people should be prepared when it’s available to take the vaccine. There’s nothing to worry about, and I’m looking forward to the second shot.” He also mentioned that his wife, Jill Biden, Ed.D., received a vaccine earlier in the day as well.
Two COVID-19 vaccines have now received emergency-use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), one developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, the other developed by Moderna. Both vaccines rely on mRNA technology to create an immune response and are administered in two doses given a few weeks apart. Although there is compelling evidence these vaccines can prevent symptomatic COVID-19 infections (and therefore reduce the risk for hospitalization and death due to the coronavirus), we don’t know yet if they can also prevent asymptomatic infections or transmission of the virus between people.
When it comes to the general public, the first groups to get the vaccines are frontline health care workers and people in long-term care facilities (such as nursing homes), an advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) decided recently. And over the weekend the panel voted that the next doses should be administered to frontline workers (such as firefighters and teachers) and people over the age of 75, CNBC reports. Some members of Congress have also received their first dose of the vaccine, including Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Biden got his COVID-19 vaccine on camera to help show his confidence in it as a safe and easy process. Former presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush recently said they would do the same. The vaccines do come with some normal side effects, which are generally temporary and flu-like. There have also been some reports of severe allergic reactions associated with the shots, but experts widely believe coronavirus vaccines are safe for most people to get and will play a key role in helping to end this pandemic.