US President-elect Joe Biden said on Tuesday he was ready to be vaccinated “in public” against COVID-19 as soon as he can, while the United States on Monday launched a major national vaccination campaign.
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Wilmington | US President-elect Joe Biden said on Tuesday he was ready to be vaccinated “in public” against COVID-19 as soon as possible, the day after the United States launched a vast national vaccination campaign.
Immunologist Anthony Fauci, a well-respected scientist appointed by Mr. Biden as senior adviser on the fight against the virus, “recommended that I be vaccinated as soon as possible,” the future president told reporters in Delaware.
“I want to make sure it’s done according to procedure and when I do, you’ll be notified and I’ll do it in public,” said Biden, who at 78 is one of those at risk.
During the presidential campaign, which took place in the midst of a pandemic, he was largely limited to virtual gatherings or to the very limited public, and always scrupulously respected barrier gestures, unlike Donald Trump.
He thus affirmed that once invested as 46th president on January 20, he would ask Americans to wear a mask for 100 days in order to curb the pandemic which has killed more than 300,000 people in the United States.
US authorities plan to vaccinate some 20 million people by the end of December, 100 million by the end of March and the entire population in the summer.
But part of the population has expressed reluctance to use a completely new vaccine and concerns about its side effects.
Health workers on the front lines caring for coronavirus patients and the elderly, one of the groups most at risk from COVID-19, should be vaccinated as a priority.
Former US Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have also said they are ready to be publicly vaccinated against COVID-19 to encourage their fellow citizens to do the same.