Pence Gets Covid-19 Vaccine In Televised Appearance To Promote Safety

Vice President Mike Pence receives a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine shot at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Vice President Mike Pence went live on TV Friday to be injected with Pfizer’s new coronavirus vaccine, hoping to instill a sense of safety and effectiveness as it is rolled out across the country.

“I didn’t feel a thing. Well done,” Pence said, against a backdrop that read “safe and effective.” He thanked the medical team at Walter Reed Medical Center.

The vaccine also was given to Pence’s wife, Karen, and to Surgeon General Jerome Adams.

There have been concerns that large segments of the population will refuse to get the vaccine, out of fears for its safety or because of misinformation or criticism of how it is being presented to the public.

On Thursday, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson used his opening monologue to say that the rollout of the campaign feels “too slick” and that health officials should explain the benefits and be honest about the risks “and let the rest of us decide.” He even cited a celebrity who got the vaccine, Ian McKellen, and mocked McKellen’s description of getting the shot as “euphoric.”

So how are the rest of us supposed to respond to a marketing campaign like this?” Carlson asked. “Nervously, if you’re strongly supportive of vaccines, and we are. Even if you recognize how many millions of lives have been saved in the past 50 years because of vaccines, and we do. It all seems a bit much, it feels false because it is, it’s too slick.”

It’s unclear if President Donald Trump will get the vaccine. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Thursday that he will get the vaccine “in the coming days.” He said that he was was “disappointed to see early public sentiment that shows some hesitation towards receiving a vaccine,” citing a recent poll that showed that a quarter of adults are not sure if they want to get vaccinated.