3 ex-presidents willing to get vaccine publicly
WASHINGTON — Three former presidents say they’d be willing to take a coronavirus vaccine publicly, once one becomes available, to encourage all Americans to get inoculated against a disease that has already killed more than 275,000 people nationwide.
Former President Barack Obama said during an episode of SiriusXM’s “The Joe Madison Show” that aired Thursday: “I promise you that when it’s been made for people who are less at risk, I will be taking it.
“I may end up taking it on TV or having it filmed, just so that people know that I trust this science.”
That may not be possible for the foreseeable future, though. The Food and Drug Administration will consider authorizing emergency use of two vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna later this month, but current estimates project that no more than 20 million doses of each vaccine will be available by the end of this year. Each product also requires two doses, meaning shots will be rationed in the early stages.
Still, former President Bill Clinton would “definitely” be willing to get a vaccine, as soon as one is “available to him, based on the priorities determined by public health officials,” spokesman Angel Urena said.
“And he will do it in a public setting if it will help urge all Americans to do the same,” Urena said Thursday.
Former President George
W. Bush’s chief of staff, Freddy Ford, told CNN that the former president recently asked him to meet with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, and Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, to let them “know that, when the time is right, he wants to do what he can to help encourage his fellow citizens to get vaccinated.”
The only other living former president, Jimmy Carter, 96, hasn’t said if he’d seek a public vaccination.