Hope is on the way, says Pence after he receives ‘medical miracle’ vaccine
US Vice-president Mike Pence has received his first coronavirus jab live on TV alongside his wife Karen and Surgeon General Jerome Adams.
The trio were vaccinated on Friday morning in an office suite in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
Mr Pence said the speed with which the vaccine was developed is “a medical miracle”.
“I didn’t feel a thing, well done,” Pence told the medics who administered his Pfizer/ Biontech shot early on Friday morning.
He did not flinch during the quick prick, nor did his wife or Mr Adams.
“Hope is on the way,” Mr Pence said.
“The American people can be confident — we have one and, perhaps within hours, two safe vaccines,” he added, referring to expected Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for Moderna’s vaccine.
Pfizer/biontech’s vaccine was the first to be approved.
“Building confidence in the vaccine is what brings us here this morning,” he said.
Mr Adams emphasised “the importance of representation” in outreach to at-risk communities and encouraged Americans to avoid disinformation around the vaccines.
President Donald Trump’s administration has helped deliver vaccinations against coronavirus earlier than even some in his administration thought possible.
Operation Warp Speed — the US government campaign to help swiftly develop and distribute vaccines — was launched in spring with great fanfare in the White House Rose Garden.
But five days into the largest vaccination campaign in the nation’s history, Mr Trump has held no public events to herald the rollout.
He has not been inoculated himself and has tweeted only twice about the vaccine.
Mr Pence, meanwhile, has taken centre stage — touring a vaccine production facility this week and receiving a dose himself on live TV.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell both said on Thursday that they will get vaccinated in the next few days.
Many Trump aides are puzzled by his low profile now the vaccine is actually being injected.
They see it as a missed opportunity for the president, who leaves office at noon on January 20, to claim credit for helping oversee the speedy development and deployment of the vaccine.