US President-elect Joe Biden said on Tuesday, December 15, he was ready to be vaccinated “
in public
” against Covid-19 as soon as he can, the day after the United States launched a vast national campaign to vaccination.
Read also: The United States authorizes the first Covid-19 test at home and without a prescription
Immunologist Anthony Fauci, a well-respected scientist appointed by Biden as senior advisor for the fight against the virus, "
recommended that I be vaccinated as soon as possible,
" the future president told reporters in Delaware.
“
I want to make sure it's done according to procedure and when I do, you'll be notified and I'll do it in public,
” said Biden, who at 78 is among those at risk.
During the presidential campaign, which took place in the midst of a pandemic, he was largely limited to virtual meetings or to the very limited public, and always scrupulously respected barrier gestures, unlike Donald Trump.
He thus affirmed that once invested as 46th president on January 20, he would ask the Americans to wear a mask for 100 days in order to curb the pandemic which has killed more than 300,000 people in the United States.
US authorities plan to vaccinate some 20 million people by the end of December, 100 million by the end of March and the entire population in the summer.
But part of the population has expressed reluctance to use a completely new vaccine and concerns about its side effects.
Health workers on the front line in the care of coronavirus patients and the elderly, one of the groups most at risk from Covid-19, must be vaccinated as a priority.
Former US Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have also said they are ready to be publicly vaccinated against Covid-19 in order to encourage their fellow citizens to do the same.