Biden received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at ChristianaCare Hospital near Wilmington, Delaware.
“We owe these folks a lot. The scientists and the people who put this together, the frontline workers, the people who were the ones that did the clinical work,” Biden said as he received a shot.
Biden said he is “doing this to demonstrate that people should be prepared when it’s available to take the vaccine,” adding, “There is nothing to worry about.”
The former vice president was accompanied by his wife, Jill Biden, who also received a vaccine.
Other political leaders such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Vice President Mike Pence, and others have received the vaccine. It’s not clear when President Donald Trump will receive the vaccine.
The first doses of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine were administered about a week ago to health care workers, according to reports. Days before that, it was authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use and doses were sent to all 50 states. A second vaccine from Moderna was approved later by the FDA on Dec. 18.
“I didn’t feel a thing,” Pence said as he got the vaccine last week. “Well done.”
Pence received the Pfizer vaccine at the Walter Reed National Medical Center in Maryland.
“Karen and I hope this step today will be a source of confidence and of comfort to the American people,” the vice president said at the event. “These days of hardship and heartbreak will, in a day not too far in the future, be put in the past.”
