House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) receives a COVID-19 vaccination from Dr. Brian Monahan (R), attending physician for the United States Congress, in her Capitol Hill office on December 18, 2020 in Washington, DC.
Ken Cedeno | Getty Images
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Leader Mitch McConnell received the Covid vaccine from Pfizer on Friday after the attending physician in Congress urged lawmakers to sign up.
The physician, Dr. Brian Monahan, cited federal guidelines designed to ensure the functioning of the US government during the pandemic.
Senior US government officials have already started receiving the vaccine, with Vice President Mike Pence, his wife, Karen, and Surgeon General Jerome Adams getting the recording live on national television Friday morning.
However, the general public won’t get the vaccine for months, as doses remain limited while Pfizer ramps up production. Moderna’s vaccine could get an emergency permit as early as Friday. Congress is currently negotiating a Covid aid package that is expected to raise several billion dollars for vaccine distribution.
Monahan, who is also an attending physician for the Supreme Court, said the National Security Council has informed him that Congress, the court and executive agencies will receive a small number of vaccine doses for essential personnel.
“My recommendation to you is absolutely unequivocal: There is no reason why you should delay receiving this vaccine,” Monahan told Congress in a letter Thursday. “The benefit far outweighs any small risk.”
Monahan stressed in his letter that “the small number of COVID19 vaccine doses that we will be receiving reflects a fraction of the first tranche of vaccines distributed nationwide.” The US logistics plans for the first week of the vaccine’s introduction call for 2.9 million doses to sites in all 50 states.
Monahan administered the vaccine to Pelosi, D-California on Friday after the house speaker said she would follow the doctor’s instructions and receive the injection. In a press release Thursday, she called on President Donald Trump to appeal to the Defense Production Act to speed up production and ensure that the vaccine is distributed fairly to as many Americans as possible as soon as possible.
McConnell, a childhood polio survivor, also received the injection Friday, calling the vaccine safe and effective. In a statement on Thursday, the Kentucky Republican expressed concern that polls show that a quarter of American adults are unsure whether they will receive the vaccine when it becomes available.
“As a polio survivor, I know both the fear of a disease and the extraordinary promise of hope that vaccines bring,” McConnell said. “I really hope that all Kentuckians and Americans will follow this advice and accept this safe and effective vaccine.”
According to data from GovTrack, more than 100 members of Congress have been quarantined, tested positive, or exposed to someone with Covid. As the vaccine rolls out and members of Congress sign up for the injection, they still haven’t reached an agreement on a Covid aid package that would include billions of dollars for the distribution of the vaccine. Members of a CDC advisory panel have warned state and local governments will need more money to administer the vaccines.
The US government and the 50 states are rationing the distribution of the vaccine across stages in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. In the first phase, frontline health workers and residents of long-term care facilities, where about 40% of Covid deaths have occurred, will receive the vaccine. A CDC advisory panel will meet on Sunday to establish guidelines on who should receive the injection in the next stage of vaccinations.
The New York Times reported on Sunday that the White House planned to rapidly distribute the vaccine to West Wing executives who are in close contact with the president. Trump, who contracted the virus and was hospitalized for several days in October, announced hours after the Times reported that he had modified the plan and that people working in the White House would be getting the vaccine later in the program.
“I am not scheduled to take the vaccine, but look forward to doing so at the right time,” the president said in a Twitter message.
At least 52 people associated with Trump and the White House have contracted the coronavirus in recent months as senior officials, including the president, ignore the CDC’s guidelines to keep their distance.