President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the White House on July 21.Photo: JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty
Former PresidentsGeorge W. Bush,Bill ClintonandBarack Obamahave all said they’ll publicly take a vaccine for thenovel coronavirus (COVID-19)in order to underline their confidence in it.
But the White House said Monday that it’s still an “open question” whether PresidentDonald Trumpwould need to do so after himself recovering from the virus.
During a press call about vaccine development and distribution, a senior administration official said that the idea of Trump, 74, receiving a COVID-19 vaccine is “certainly something that is under consideration."
“As you know, the president recovered from COVID. And so I think there is something that’s up for discussion as to whether someone who’s recovered from COVID and has antibodies would necessarily be a high priority for receiving the vaccine and for the purposes of vaccine confidence. But he’s expressed his willingness,” the official told reporters.
They continued: “I think there is an open question as to whether, ultimately, he [Trump] will be one of the ones to take it on air. And that’s simply a function of whether that would actually serve the desired purpose, given the fact that he’s a recovered patient.”
President Donald Trump.Erin Schaff - Pool/Getty
Bush’s chief of stafftoldCNN the 74-year-old former president “will gladly do so on camera,” while a spokesman for the 74-year-old ClintontoldPEOPLE that “he will do it in a public setting if it will help urge all Americans to do the same.”
Trump — whose much-scrutinized response to the pandemic, which he admitted downplaying, was wielded against him in the election he just lost toJoe Biden— was hospitalized with the coronavirus for three days in October, in a White House outbreak that sickened First LadyMelania Trumpand close aides.
Thefirst vaccinein a Western country was administered to a 90-year-old woman in the United Kingdom on Tuesday, in a celebratory day locally dubbed “V-Day,” following a year of health, economic and social upheaval around the world.
Former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama together in 2017.Chris Condon/PGA TOUR
“We want the American people to know that this vaccine is safe and effective,” the senior administration official said Monday.
While Trump may not participate in a vaccine confidence campaign, the official said, “there are other sort of famous, shall we say, vaccine influencers and experts who I think have come forward and volunteered to participate in an effort to help instill public confidence, and we’re certainly considering such offers.”
At least 285,070 people in the U.S. have died from the virus, while more than 15.1 million Americans have been infected, according to aNew YorkTimestracker.
source: people.com
