The United States is among the countries that are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the worst, with hundreds of thousands of deaths and millions of cases. As pharmaceutical companies begin rolling out their vaccines for the cure, Donald Trump has reversed his plan to make White House officials’ vaccinations first.
It was previously reported that the officials at the White House would become the first recipients of the COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer, which has since been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. However, Trump appeared to reverse the plan by announcing on social media that the White House officials would be receiving the vaccine at a later time. The first vaccinations were administered Monday and were praised by many officials, including Trump and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
“People working in the White House should receive the vaccine somewhat later in the program, unless specifically necessary. I have asked that this adjustment be made,” tweeted Trump.
Although the first vaccinations for COVID-19 were made this week, it would take a while for most of the country to receive one. HHS Secretary Alex Azar said that the vaccine would be available to the broader American public sometime by February going into March. As the rest of the country waits to receive a vaccine, there is mounting pressure for officials at the Capitol to present a stimulus package due to the economic collapse the pandemic has brought on. The bipartisan package by the Senate is said to have a little chance of succeeding as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has insisted on a Republican-drafted proposal.
Even with the progress made in the coronavirus vaccine, Trump continues to insist that the election was stolen from him and laid blame on the Democrats for “rigging” the process. This comes as Trump is on his last month as president and will be departing from the White House in January when Joe Biden is sworn in. Karl Rove, who served as a senior adviser to former president George W. Bush, has since weighed in on Trump’s desperate attempts to overturn the election.
“If his goal is to lay the predicate to come back in 2024 and run again, he’s helping himself at least gaining the nomination, but I think in the long run he’s not helping himself or the country,” said Rove. “America likes comebacks, but they don’t like sore losers, and he is on the edge of looking like a sore loser…”