(CNN) –– President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden, received his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech on live television on Monday. During that time, Biden reaffirmed to Americans the safety of the vaccine.
The vaccine, which Biden received in his left arm, was administered at the ChristianaCare facility at Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware. Tabe Mase, a nurse practitioner and chief of health services for hospital employees, vaccinated the president-elect, according to Biden’s transition team.
Biden on the vaccine: “This is a great, great hope”
“We owe a lot to these people,” said Biden, thanking those who helped develop and distribute the vaccine. As well as primary health care workers.
Biden also said the Trump administration deserved “some credit” for Operation Warp Speed, the federal government’s vaccine program. Also for its role in enabling vaccination against the coronavirus.
“I also think it’s worth saying that this is a great, great hope. I’m doing this to show that people need to be prepared, if available, to get the vaccine. There is nothing to worry about. I’m looking forward to the second dose, including Jill, ”Biden added.
“He had his injection earlier today. I know, he loves them, ”he said, taking his wife by the hand and smiling.
Biden noted that vaccination is in the early stages. And he warned Americans to go the long way.
“It’s going to take time,” he said.
Listen to public health experts and wear masks
The president-elect urged Americans to listen to public health experts and wear masks. Also take a social distance and do not travel unless absolutely necessary during the Christmas period.
“Because we’re still in the middle of this,” Biden continued. ‘The vaccine reaches a hospital is one thing, and the vaccine from that bottle is inserted into a needle in an arm.
The vaccination of Biden takes place one week after the first doses of the vaccine are injected into health professionals. It also comes days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use approval for a second coronavirus vaccine. Incoming first lady Jill Biden also received the vaccine on Monday, Biden’s transition team told reporters.
The Pfizer vaccine requires two doses, several weeks apart, to be 95% effective. The transition team has not provided details on when the Bidens will receive the second dose.
Biden’s transition spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, would receive their vaccinations next week.
Biden and Harris are given vaccinations at different times
The country’s top infectious disease specialist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told ABC last week that he would strongly recommend that Biden and Harris be vaccinated as soon as possible. He also recommended that President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence get the vaccine.
Biden told CNN’s Jake Tapper earlier this month that he would get the vaccine once Fauci told him it was safe. And he added that he would do it in public to show his confidence in her.
Psaki told reporters that Biden and Harris would receive the vaccine at different times on the recommendation of medical experts. The reason could be that if Biden and Harris experienced side effects, they wouldn’t get them on the same day. These possible effects include a headache or fever.
Pence, Second Lady Karen Pence, and Sanitation Director General Jerome Adams received the vaccine at a camera event last week. The Trump administration has said that the vice president who publicly received the vaccine was part of the government’s efforts to build public confidence in the vaccine’s safety and efficacy.
Trump has not yet received the vaccine. And none will be given until recommended by the White House medical team, an official told CNN last week. The president still has the benefits of the monoclonal antibody cocktail he got after testing positive for COVID-19 this fall, the White House official said. However, you will likely receive the vaccine as soon as the medical team recommends it.
Part of Biden’s plan to fight the pandemic includes distributing 100 million vaccine injections, enough to cover 50 million people, in his first 100 days in office. The coronavirus pandemic has claimed the lives of more than 318,000 Americans as of Monday afternoon.