NewsCoronavirus

Actions

President-elect Joe Biden receives second dose of Pfizer vaccine

Joe Biden COVID-19 vaccine
Posted at 12:16 PM, Jan 11, 2021
and last updated 2021-01-11 15:50:22-05

President-elect Joe Biden got his second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in a live event on Monday afternoon.

Biden received the injection in his home state of Delaware, where his campaign transition headquarters is stationed.

Biden’s second injection comes three weeks after receiving the first dose of the vaccine manufactured by Pfizer and BioNTech on Dec. 21. At the time, Biden said he was receiving the vaccine publicly to instill confidence in its safety.

“I’m doing this to demonstrate that people should be prepared when it’s available to take the vaccine. There’s nothing to worry about. I’m looking forward to the second shot and so is (my wife) Jill. She’s had her shot earlier today,” Biden said at the time.

Monday’s event comes as much of the nation is struggling to quickly distribute doses of the Pfizer vaccine, as well as a vaccine made by Moderna. The U.S. has distributed 8 million vaccine doses since Dec. 14, including 4 million in the last seven days. However, the U.S. remains well short of the goal set by Operation Warp Speed, which had aimed to distribute 20 million doses by the end of 2020.

Biden says it is his administration’s goal to distribute 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in his first 100 days in office. He and other top health officials are also considering administering only a single dose of the vaccine to some patients in the hopes of promoting at least some antibodies in more Americans.