VP-Elect Harris Joins High-Ranking Officials Pledging In-Public COVID-19 Vaccinations

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris echoed sentiments expressed by former President Barack Obama and other high-profile political figures by saying she’d be among the first to publicly take a COVID-19 vaccine once it’s approved.

In a joint interview with President-elect Joe Biden broadcast Thursday on CNN, Harris said she too would get the vaccination publicly to encourage others to follow suit.

"Of course I would," she said. “But we also want to make sure that the American people know that we are committed."

Drugmaker Moderna on Thursday said it expected to have at least 85 million doses of its two-shot vaccine to immunize against COVID-19 available in the U.S. during the first quarter of 2021.

Moderna’s vaccine uses genetic information to provide protection against the virus, similar to the one developed by Pfizer and German biotechnology company BioNTech. The use of genetic information, in this case messenger RNA, is novel and the long-term side effects are unclear at this point.

Obama this week said he would get vaccinated once one is available, and once U.S. health officials say it’s safe. The former president even said he’d get the shot and show it on TV to convince the public to do the same. Fellow former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have pledged to do the same.

On Thursday, the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 13-1 on the so-called Phase 1a vaccine rollout plan that puts health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities at the front of the line. Phase 1b would likely include people who are at an elevated risk of developing severe cases of COVID-19.

If the Food and Drug Administration approves two or more vaccines, an estimated 75 million people could become vaccinated by January. The U.S. Census Bureau puts the estimated total U.S. population at 330 million.

Biden, for his part, said once Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, gives his approval for a vaccine, he’d stand before the public to have it administered.

"People have lost faith in the ability of the vaccine to work already,” he told CNN.

A survey published Thursday by the Pew Research Center found 60% of those responding to pollsters said they’d get inoculated once the vaccinateds are approved and available, up from 51% who said the same in September.

“Still, the U.S. public is far from uniform in views about a vaccine,” pollsters stated. “A majority says they would be uncomfortable being among the first to take it, and a sizable minority appear certain to pass on getting vaccinated.”