US President-elect Joe Biden received, Monday, December 21, 2020, his first dose of the Coronavirus vaccine live, as part of an increasing effort to convince Americans that vaccines are safe.
This comes in conjunction with the start of the launch of a second vaccine, produced by Moderna, to join the Pfizer vaccine within the country's arsenal against the Corona virus pandemic, which has killed more than 317,000 people so far in the United States.
Biden said of his decision: "I do not want to advance the ranks, but I want to make sure that we show the American people that it is safe to make a decision," according to the American "Associated Press".
Biden and his wife Gail also thanked the health care workers at the facility where they would receive the vaccine.
A campaign to convince Americans that vaccines are safe
On Friday, December 18, 2020, Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and other lawmakers received the vaccine doses.
While they chose to announce that they had received the vaccine as part of a campaign to convince Americans that vaccines are safe and effective, amid doubts, especially among Republicans.
Also, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband are expected to receive the vaccine next week.
It is reported that as of Monday, the number of Corona patients in the United States exceeded 18 million and 267 thousand, of whom more than 324 thousand died, and more than 10 million and 622 thousand recovered, according to the same site.
While the United States ranks first in the world in terms of injuries and deaths, with more than 17 million injuries, and more than 314 thousand deaths.
Also, as of Thursday dawn, the number of Corona patients in the world exceeded 74 million and 517 thousand, of whom more than one million and 654 thousand died, and more than 52 million and 354 thousand recovered, according to the "Worldmeter" website.
On a related matter, the World Health Organization confirmed, on Monday, that the new Corona virus strain is spreading faster, with no evidence yet that it causes serious disease or an increase in deaths.
This came after several world countries announced the suspension of flights to and from Britain, following the emergence of the new strain there.
As the Director-General of the Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said: "What we understand so far from the data reported by Britain is that there is an increase in the transmission of infection in this strain."
He added, however, "but there is no evidence so far that it is likely to cause serious disease or more deaths." He continued, "The bottom line is that we need to suppress transmission of all SARS-CoV-2 viruses as quickly as possible. The more we allow it to spread, the greater the chance of changing it."
The effect of the strain on vaccines
Where one of the organization's scientists said, there are no indications from Britain that the strain will affect vaccines.
It is noteworthy that, earlier on Sunday, the "World Health Organization" warned of the rapid spread of the new strain of Corona virus around the world, due to the monitoring of cases in the Netherlands, Denmark and Australia, after Britain.
While British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that the new strain has a faster spread capacity of 70%, pointing out that there is no data indicating that it is more deadly than the original strain.
In turn, the British Ministry of Health said that there is no evidence that the new strain is more dangerous or more fatal.