Vice President Pence, Second Lady Karen Pence Receive COVID-19 Vaccine to Reassure Public

On Friday morning, Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Second Lady Karen Pence, both received their first dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine while live on-air to reassure the American public about its safety. The pair received the vaccine from the medical staff at Walter Reed Medical Center.

In a short speech after receiving the vaccine, the vice president said he “didn’t feel a thing.”

“As the Christmas holiday approaches, this is always a season of hope,” the vice president said. “We gather here today at the end of a historic week to affirm to the American people that hope is on the way.

The vice president noted that the COVID-19 vaccine is “safe and effective” and that the monumental effort behind its creation is “truly inspiring.”

“It’s a medical miracle,” Vice President Pence added. “The average vaccine, I’m told by our experts, usually takes between eight and 12 years to develop and then manufacture and distribute. But we’re on track, here in the United States, to administer millions of doses to the American people in less than one year. It is a miracle indeed.”

Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams also received the vaccine on air. Adams, a black man, received the vaccine with the hope of reassuring the African American community that it is safe.

“As a Black man, I recognize the very real history of harm people of color have suffered at the hands of the medical community and government,” Adams wrote in a Twitter post following his vaccination. “Which is why we must acknowledge these wrongs, address them honestly & engage w/ folks. I hope my vaccination can help restore trust.”

On Thursday, December 17, a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel gave a green light to the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Moderna, paving the way for its imminent approval by the FDA. In all likelihood, this second vaccine will be administered to millions of Americans next week.

“Moderna vaccine overwhelmingly approved,” the president wrote on Twitter Friday morning. “Distribution to start immediately.”

On Friday’s radio broadcast, Focus on the Family President Jim Daly and co-host John Fuller interviewed two doctors to talk about the COVID-19 vaccine, and things listers should know about it. To listen to the broadcast and learn more about the vaccine, click here.

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Photo from CHERISS MAY/REUTERS