Senior White House staff to get Covid-19 vaccine soon to ensure ‘continuity of government’

Donald Trump outside the White House after returning from hospital having caught Covid-19

Credit: KEN CEDENO/POOL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock 

Senior White House figures will get the Covid-19 vaccine soon, Donald Trump’s top press spokesperson has said, despite the US president’s public caution over the move.

Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary, said that for “continuity of government” reasons some national security staff will have early access to the vaccine. 

She also said some senior officials in the White House will get vaccinated in public to help reassure Americans that it is safe, though did not name individuals involved.

The news came after Mr Trump said on Twitter recently that he had intervened to make sure the White House staff generally were not put at the front of the queue for a vaccine.  

“People working in the White House should receive the vaccine somewhat later in the program, unless specifically necessary,” Mr Trump had tweeted.

Elsewhere during the press briefing Ms McEnany declined to promise that Mr Trump himself would take the vaccine in public before the inauguration on January 20.

She stressed that the US president was “absolutely open” to taking the vaccine and would follow the advice of his medical team. 

Ms McEnany said that Mr Trump wanted to project a message about the importance of front-line health care workers being put first in the vaccine roll-out.

Joe Biden, the US president-elect, said on Tuesday that when he gets the Covid-19 vaccine he would do so in public.

Opinion polls show that while the proportion of Americans willing to take the vaccine is rising there is still some opposition to the move, making a public reassurance campaign important.

Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease adviser, said on Tuesday that both Mr Biden and Mr Trump should get the vaccine soon.

Meanwhile the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) staff have approved Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine, taking it a significant step closer to being rolled out nationwide.

Their report, published on Tuesday, found that the vaccine was 94 per cent effective and was safe for use. Later this week an independent group of outside advisers will review the data.

If they are happy it will be authorised for emergency use, and could be rolled out by the weekend.