President Trump is open to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine to bolster confidence in the shots but he doesn’t want to jump ahead in line as the nation focuses on health workers and nursing homes, his spokeswoman said Tuesday.
“His priority is front-line workers,” said White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.
She said Mr. Trump will receive the vaccine once his doctors tell him it is the right time.
In the meantime, she said Mr. Trump “absolutely” encourages Americans to take the vaccine, once it is available to them, as the first doses of Pfizer’s version are doled out across the country. A second vaccine, from Moderna, is on track for approval by the end of the week.
Ms. McEnany said senior officials with national-security positions will be receiving the vaccines publicly in the coming days. She said to stay tuned for the list of names.
Mr. Trump’s position is somewhat unique, she said, since he may be producing an immune response already.
“He did recently recover from COVID,” she said.
Experts haven’t restricted people with prior infections from getting the vaccine, and the extra protection from immunization may be helpful to them.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is studying how long natural immunity lasts before it crafts additional advice.
Earlier Tuesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci said he thinks Mr. Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, President-elect Joseph R. Biden and Vice President-elect Sen. Kamala D. Harris should be among the people who get quick access to the vaccine.
“For security reasons, I really feel strongly that we should get them vaccinated as soon as we possibly can,” Dr. Fauci said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
