In a tweet sent late Sunday (December 13), President Donald Trump said he would delay the plan to get the coronavirus vaccine to White House staff early.
“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,” the tweet said.
This move by Trump follows the White House National Security Council’s announcement that senior officials in all three branches of government would have early access to the vaccine, as reported by NBC News.
Early access was set to go to senior officials for government continuity in case of a crisis, according to the news outlet.
Trump added that he was not scheduled to take the vaccine, but would do so “at the appropriate time.”
Trump’s tweet about slowing the White House vaccine plan came just ahead of Monday's (December 14) rollout of the first vaccines to 145 locations in all 50 states. Healthcare workers in New York were the state’s first to be vaccinated.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 50 Trump administration and campaign officials have contracted the coronavirus. Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani was the latest to test positive for COVID-19. He was hospitalized in Washington, D.C., but was released.
It’s unknown if President-elect Joe Biden will get the vaccine. Jen Psaki, the incoming White House press secretary told reporters they’ve “talked about this a little bit in the past couple of weeks,” but that the administration’s is prioritizing “what we can do to ensure that the vaccine is distributed, that it’s safe, that we are planning for all scenarios.”
“We know this challenge is unprecedented in order to help the American people, but we don’t have anything more for you on the timing for the president-elect or, how that would happen or whether it would be televised,” Psaki said.
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