Joe Biden Receives COVID-19 Vaccine's First Dose

President-elect Joe Biden has officially received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. According to CNN, the former vice president received a dose of the Pfizer and BioNTech coronavirus vaccine in public on Monday afternoon. This news comes after several high-profile lawmakers, such as Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, have also received their doses of the vaccine.

The Biden transition team shared that the president-elect received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at ChristianaCare Hospital in Newark, Delaware. It was administered by Tabe Masa, a nurse practitioner and the head of employee health services at the hospital. Biden was vaccinated about a week after the first doses of the vaccine were administered to frontline healthcare workers. The Biden transition team also shared that incoming First Lady Jill Biden received her first dose of the vaccine on Monday, as well. The Pfizer vaccine requires that individuals receive another dose several weeks after receiving the first one in order to reach 95% efficacy. As of right now, it's unclear when the Bidens will receive their second doses of the vaccine.

Jen Psaki, a Biden transition spokesperson, said that the future Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, would receive their vaccinations next week. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, told ABC recently that he would urge Biden and Harris to get their vaccinations as soon as possible. He also recommended that President Donald Trump and Pence get their vaccinations soon, as well. Psaki noted that Biden and Harris were staggering the times in which they were getting their first doses of the vaccine on purpose at the recommendation of medical professionals. The reason behind this decision was that if Biden or Harris experienced any side effects from the vaccine, such as headache or fever, that they would not experience them on the same days.

As previously mentioned, Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, received their first doses of the vaccine on Friday. He was administered the vaccine by the medical team at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center at around 8 a.m. ET in the White House's Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the location in which Pence holds office. In addition to Pence and his wife receiving the vaccine, Surgeon General Jerome Adams received his first dose, as well. Pence received the vaccine live on television, making him the highest-profile government official to do so at the time.