Pence, McConnell and Other U.S. Officials Receive Vaccines

5 min readDec 18, 2020

Experts fear the country’s deep partisan divide may limit the vaccine’s reach to Republicans. France’s president details his symptoms.

Here’s what you need to know:

Pence, McConnell and other officials receive vaccinations, but will that close the partisan divide on the shot?

‘Didn’t Feel a Thing’: Pence Receives Coronavirus Vaccine

Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, received a coronavirus vaccine on Friday.

I didn’t feel a thing. Well done, and we appreciate your service to the country. Today, Karen and I wanted to step forward and take this vaccine to assure the American people that while we cut red tape, we cut no corners.

0:47‘Didn’t Feel a Thing’: Pence Receives Coronavirus Vaccine

Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, received a coronavirus vaccine on Friday.CreditCredit…Doug Mills/The New York Times

It’s yet another paradox of the pandemic: The vaccine may be President Trump’s greatest legacy. But many of his supporters do not want to take it.

Like everything else about the coronavirus pandemic, and the United States writ large, vaccine hesitancy — the public health term for delaying to accept or refusing to take a vaccine even when it is available — has become deeply partisan. The “anti-vaxxer movement” is not new, and it typically cuts across political parties. But partisanship plays a major role in how people view the coronavirus vaccine.

A recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that Republicans were the group most likely to be hesitant about the coronavirus vaccine, with 42 percent saying they would probably not or definitely not be vaccinated. Democrats were the least likely, with 12 percent saying they would probably or definitely not be vaccinated.

In any other era, the vaccination on live television of Vice President Mike Pence, at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, administered by technicians from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., would have been a moment to bring the nation together. (An earlier version of this item misstated the location.) Mr. Pence used it as a way to promote both the vaccine while also hailing the work of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, which he leads.

He took the shot in front of a giant blue poster declaring in block white letters: SAFE and EFFECTIVE. His wife, Karen Pence, and Surgeon General Jerome Adams were also vaccinated. As they took their seats on high stools, a technician asked if any were “pregnant or breastfeeding” or immunocompromised, which prompted a laugh.

“I didn’t feel a thing — well done,” the vice president said minutes after the vaccine was administered to him by a technician. He called it a “truly inspiring day.”

But Mr. Trump was notably absent. One reason for the partisan divide over vaccination, experts say, is the president himself; his repeated denigration of scientists and insistence that the pandemic is not a threat have contributed to a sense among his followers that the vaccine is either not safe or not worth taking.

“We need him taking a proactive role,” said Matthew Motta, a political scientist at Oklahoma State University who studies politics and vaccine views, adding, “The single best person to convince you to change your mind about something is somebody who agrees with you, somebody who you trust on other issues.”

President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his wife, Jill, are scheduled to receive an injection on camera on Monday, transition officials said on a conference call with reporters on Friday afternoon. Jen Psaki, a spokeswoman for the transition and the incoming White House press secretary, said Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband would receive the vaccine after Christmas.

Ms. Psaki said the vaccinations were staggered based on medical recommendations “that they should not do doses at the same time.”

Members of Congress and the Supreme Court will begin receiving vaccinations in the coming days, in an effort to safeguard the functioning of the government. It was not immediately clear how many doses will be sent to Capitol Hill, but all 535 members of Congress and the nine justices are eligible under plans circulated on Thursday by Dr. Brian P. Monahan, the Capitol’s attending physician.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California was among the first lawmakers to receive a vaccine. Ms. Pelosi, 80, would be second in line to the presidency if the president or vice president were unable to serve.

On Friday, Ms. Pelosi posted photos of herself receiving the shot inside the Capitol on Twitter. “Today, with confidence in science and at the direction of the Office of the Attending Physician, I received the Covid-19 vaccine,” she wrote.

Pence, McConnell and Other U.S. Officials Receive Vaccines

Here’s what you need to know:

Pence, McConnell and other officials receive vaccinations, but will that close the partisan divide on the shot?

Written by Nasrinmnc