Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s COVID-19 expert and President-elect Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said on Tuesday morning that Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris ought to receive the vaccine for COVID-19 as soon as possible.
Yes, and publicly on all networks. Let everyone see it done. Been saying this for a week now and not just Biden but as public officials and celebrities that people trust begin taking the vaccine, let it be witnessed. Especially should Kamala take the vaccine, as it is said (not seeing any statistics on it yet) that people of color are reluctant to consider this, given some really bad history with vaccines among the Blacks in the early 1900s.
If Biden wants to defeat the virus, get some skin in this game too (in addition to the GA runoffs) and go public with the injection. It could go a long way to get more (not all) people to take this.
No doubt, for sure
You know that a trump loyalist is going to try to infect them, even if they weren’t already at risk from the secret service and other folks.
Isn’t this a given?
Now. Today. No time to waste.
And Madam Vice President Elect too.
The cabinet and both houses of Congress should get vaccinated as well - in public.
That would be an interesting ploy. All the D legislators lining up to get it, while all the R ones stand aside and jeer them.
I’m already seeing articles on social media about how all of Trump’s cronies are first in line for the vaccine. For example:
So what would the optics be for the same with Congress? There’s already discontent that Congresscritters get benefits that the common man doesn’t get. Would there be a major media issue, if the decision were to vaccinate the Congress? And of course, because there are deniers in Congress, not everyone would get the injection, which is fine.
I think the Congresscritters need to get in line. And, as far as the Cabinet is concerned, no. Maybe Biden’s candidates, but not this bunch currently in the Cabinet. The world would be a better place if some of those folks were de-commissioned for a few weeks with the virus.
No one in the current administration should be getting vaccinated because of their ostensibly essential position. They will all be out before their second dose. (If you look at the numbers, there’s some argument for protection starting a couple weeks after the first dose, but nothing that decent protocols couldn’t match.)
Biden should have had his first dose already.
I would think that might’ve made the news, under the circumstances?
No shit - every time I see him on TV without a mask I want to reach through the screen and put my hand over his face.
While I understand the requirement for national security reasons, it will be another talking point in the RWNJ sphere whataboutism. Do it! And let the RWNJs howl at the moon.
Biden and Harris should both take the vaccine immediately and publicly. That said, you know that Trump et al. will turn this into a political event -“Democrat elites take the vaccine ahead of the first responders and elderly in nursing homes.” Sad that it will come to that and that should not deter Biden and Harris from setting a positive example, but despicable Trumpsters will not miss an opportunity to politicize anything.
You are right not Trumps people.
The main reason is not that Congress would be getting a benefit over everybody else. My main focus is that these drugs haven’t really been tested yet. They hold a lot of promise but we have little or no idea how long they last, which groups of people shouldn’t take them and what the long term consequences might be.
People have been too rah rah over these drugs especially the media saying this is a be all and end all. We need to remember these first 2 drugs are based on a new technology. Normally it would take a year or 2 to do that testing. I can understand the rush to get everyone vaccinated however, by having our newly elected President, VP and Congress get the shot publicly it would help asuage the fears of the public and maybe instill a little confidence in our elected leaders.
Besides we’d get to see how these drugs affect people before we have to get the vaccine.
Joe making a big show of getting vaccinated would be the surest way possible to turn refusal of the vaccine into an article of faith among the MAGA set. But I’m in a bit of a Darwinian mood this morning, so he should definitely make a big show of getting vaccinated.
The main objection to the current White House getting the vaccine first is the disdain shown by trump and his minions to doing the right thing in their COVID response. They have been railing against solid public health practices since February. It’s more of a visceral reaction on our part to saving people that wouldn’t save us. Same reaction for gop Congress critters getting the vaccine.
That said, they should vaccinate Congress and the White House and the incoming White House but using the same approaches they are using in the hospitals: not everyone all at once.
Herd immunity versus herd mentality.
The good thing is that Dr. Fauci knows his job is secure so that speaking out is less likely to cause him any worries about being let go by tRump. He was sidelined for so long, even when his voice was most needed. It was noticeable at the time. He no longer shrinks from that responsibility, and I suspect it has a lot to do with knowing he can continue under the next administration whether tRump approves of his high visibility or not.
Azar says they are providing the Biden team information that will lead to a smooth transition but its clear that much of that is not happening as it should.