Biden, Harris to get COVID-19 vaccine in bid to build public support
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Regan was in the final stages of being vetted by Biden’s team.
By REUTERSUS PRESIDENT-ELECT Joe Biden delivers an address ahead of Thanksgiving at his transition headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, November 25, 2020(photo credit: JOSHUA ROBERTS / REUTERS)
President-elect Joe Biden and future vice president Kamala Harris, who are set to take office on Jan. 20, have also vowed to make the fight against the coronavirus that has killed nearly 310,000 Americans a top priority.They will be contending with the logistical challenges of a mass inoculation as well as overcoming some skepticism about the vaccine’s efficacy and safety among the general public.A vaccine made by Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SE is expected to become widely available next year.Biden and Harris will publicly get vaccinated next week, according to transition officials. At age 78, Biden is in the high-risk group for COVID-19, which has proven particularly dangerous among the elderly.Vice President Mike Pence, who has headed the White House coronavirus task force, will receive the vaccine in public on Friday, the highest-profile recipient to date.Trump will get the vaccine when his medical team decides it is best, according to the White House.Trump, who frequently downplayed the severity of the pandemic and feuded with top U.S. public health officials, was hospitalized in October after testing positive for COVID-19.All over the United States, doctors, nurses and delivery people are wrestling with challenges in the vaccine rollout including delays, anxiety and keeping the vaccine at just the right level of cold.A panel of outside advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to endorse emergency use of a second vaccine by Moderna Inc in a meeting on Thursday.Many Americans remain skeptical. Only 61% of respondents in a Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted from Dec. 2 to 8, said they were open to getting vaccinated.
That is short of the 70% level that public health officials have said is needed to reach herd immunity - achieved when a large portion of a given population is immune to a disease - either through exposure or vaccination. Roughly 5% of Americans are believed to have been infected by the novel coronavirus.
