Mike Pence Receives COVID Vaccine on Live TV
Vice President Mike Pence received an injection of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine on national television Friday alongside his wife, second lady Karen Pence.
The vice president and his wife were joined in receiving the vaccine by Surgeon General Jerome Adams. Staff members from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center administered the doses at the public event at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, The Associated Press reported.
BREAKING: Vice Pres. Mike Pence receives COVID-19 vaccine. https://t.co/D3NZXWFj5S pic.twitter.com/dDWzaLUMi0
— ABC News (@ABC) December 18, 2020
“You know, as the Christmas holiday approaches, this is always a season of hope. We gather here today, at the end of a historic week, to affirm to the American people that hope is on the way,” Pence said, according to an official transcript of his remarks published by the White House.
“Karen and I were more than happy to step forward before this week was out to take the safe and effective coronavirus vaccine that we have secured and produced for the American people. It’s a truly inspiring day,” he added.
Pence, the head of the White House coronavirus task force, said he and his wife wanted to show the American people the vaccine is safe to take. Pence also celebrated the history-making vaccine for the speed at which it was developed, thanks to a collaboration of the public and private sectors through Operation Warp Speed.
After President Donald Trump predicted back in May that a vaccine might be available by the end of the year, the president was roundly criticized and mocked by many in the establishment media. NBC News, in a fact check of Trump’s prediction, went so far as to suggest a “miracle” would be needed.
NBC Fact check: Coronavirus vaccine could come this year, Trump says. Experts say he needs a ‘miracle’ to be right.https://t.co/Pu6hDrWGgP
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 15, 2020
According to the vice president on Friday, that miracle has come to pass.
“Karen and I were more than happy to step forward before this week was out to take this safe and effective coronavirus vaccine,” Vice President Mike Pence says. “It’s a truly inspiring day” https://t.co/bs6y5FJA4r pic.twitter.com/uqzCUWJwiI
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) December 18, 2020
“As the people of this country witnessed this past week, under Operation Warp Speed, the first coronavirus vaccine is literally being administered in states across the country to millions of Americans. And make no mistake about it: It’s a medical miracle,” Pence said.
“The average vaccine, I’m told by our experts, usually takes between 8 and 12 years to develop and then 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,” he added.
[jwplayer yE5P0iae]
Nine months after the coronavirus upended daily life, some Americans received the Pfizer vaccine this week following emergency-use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration. A similar authorization for a vaccine by Moderna is expected soon.
Pence said that with the vaccine being distributed around the country, he believes “history will record that this week was the beginning of the end of the coronavirus pandemic.”
“As President Trump often says, we are rounding the corner. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It is the light of American innovation and creativity. It is the light of lifesaving medicines and a safe and effective vaccine,” Pence added.
Trump has not yet said when he will receive a vaccine, but he did say on Twitter earlier this week he would be getting one at the “appropriate time.”
People working in the White House should receive the vaccine somewhat later in the program, unless specifically necessary. I have asked that this adjustment be made. I am not scheduled to take the vaccine, but look forward to doing so at the appropriate time. Thank you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2020
The president contracted the illness in October and was briefly hospitalized at Walter Reed.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have both said they will receive doses of the vaccine, CBS News reported.
“With confidence in the vaccine and at the direction of the Attending Physician, I plan to receive the vaccine in the next few days,” Pelosi said in a statement Thursday.
McConnell, who noted that lawmakers were eligible for the vaccine because of “continuity requirements” in government, said: “As a polio survivor, I know both the fear of a disease and the extraordinary promise of hope that vaccines bring.”
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
