Trump says White House staff members will be vaccinated later
Senior government officials working closely with President Trump were initially slated to receive the coronavirus vaccine in accordance with federal continuity of government plans
Senior White House staff members who work in close proximity with President Trump were reportedly to be among the first Americans to receive coronavirus vaccine injections.
However, in a Sunday evening tweet, the president wrote that he would ask for White House employees to receive the vaccine later on in the distribution process.
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"People working in the White House should receive the vaccine somewhat later in the program, unless specifically necessary. I have asked that this adjustment be made," he wrote. "I am not scheduled to take the vaccine, but look forward to doing so at the appropriate time. Thank you!"
On Saturday, officials announced the vaccine would begin arriving in states on Monday after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration formally gave emergency approval for Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine candidate last week.
Three million doses are expected to be shipped nationwide as a part of the administration's Operation Warp Speed.
While the first doses are set to be distributed to frontline health care workers and nursing home residents, The New York Times first reported Sunday that doses would be dispensed in the West Wing in an effort to prevent additional outbreaks of the virus.
After a handful of top aides contracted the virus in late September, President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were infected at the beginning of October -- throwing a wrench in the president's re-election campaign plans.
A truck loaded with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine leaves the Pfizer Global Supply Kalamazoo manufacturing plant in Portage, Mich., Sunday, Dec. 13, 2020. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, Pool)
Since then, the president's lawyer Rudy Giuliani, members of Vice President Mike Pence’s inner circle -- including Chief of Staff Marc Short -- and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows have fallen ill.
A senior Congressional official told Fox News' Chad Pergram that The Hill had not been notified regarding how many doses would be made available.
In addition, an official told Fox News' Mark Meredith that the administration was undertaking the vaccination under federal continuity of government plans and that all three branches of government would receive doses -- though, how many and to whom remained a mystery.
The source noted said that this was the protocol put in place by the previous administration.
In a statement, National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot told Fox News that the officials will receive vaccinations "pursuant to continuity of government protocols established in executive policy."
"The American people should have confidence that they are receiving the same safe and effective vaccine as senior officials of the United States government on the advice of public health professionals and national security leadership," he said.
In a Dec. 7 executive order on "Governance and Integration of Federal Mission Resilience," the president cited Presidential Policy Directive 40, or the "National Continuity Policy."
The July 2016 policy is used to ensure the preservation of government structure and establishes continuity requirements for the executive branch including providing certain personnel with the appropriate resources to perform their prescribed continuity role. A vaccine during the COVID-19 pandemic is a necessary resource.
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Most Americans will be able to receive the vaccine in the second quarter of 2021.
To that end, Moderna's vaccine candidate is up for review next week.
To date, the coronavirus has infected more than 16 million Americans and taken over 299,100 lives, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.