Obama might take COVID-19 vaccine on TV to encourage widescale inoculation

Former US President Barack Obama has said that he might take the COVID-19 vaccine live on camera after one gets authorisation by the US Food and Drug Administration. On December 2, in a bid to build public confidence in the coronavirus vaccines that many Americans are skeptical to take amid looming doubts about the candidate’s efficacy and safety, Obama said he trusts vaccine science.

In an interview with SiriusXM host Joe Madison, the former US president said that he "believes" in top immunologist and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci, adding that if Fauci claimed that the vaccines are safe, they most certainly are. 

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Speaking in a televised interview, Obama said that he may publicly take a coronavirus vaccine on TV to encourage the public to get an immunization. Obama asserted that, if the US’ top infectious diseases expert declared the coronavirus vaccines as safe and effective, then he would definitely get his shot.

"I promise you that when it's been made for people who are less at risk, I will be taking it. I may end up taking it on TV or having it filmed, just so that people know that I trust this science," Obama said in a live-streamed interview on SiriusXM's The Joe Madison Show. In the YouTube clip, Obama touted the drug’s safety as he urged that more people must feel safe to take the shot and inoculate themselves. Accompanying Obama’s initiative were the other two former presidents of the US, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton.

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To promote the vaccine’s 'safety'

In an interview with CNN, George W. Bush’s former chief of staff, Freddy Ford said that America’s former president had attempted to reach the White House coronavirus task force members Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx in this regard, as he wanted to publicly take the vaccine.

Stressing, that the vaccines were first intended for the vulnerable populations and those on the administration’s priority list, Ford informed that the former president Bush would wait in line to get his shot on TV to promote the vaccine’s safety and ensure more people get comfortable with it.

Meanwhile, Clinton’s press secretary, Angel Urena, confirmed that the 42nd president was going to take the vaccine publicly as well after the priority population was inoculated as determined by the public health officials. Earlier, Dr. Anthony Fauci had said that he expected to begin a comprehensive discussion about the vaccines with the Biden transition team, adding, that he has spoken with Biden's White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain.

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