Donald and Melania Trump received Covid vaccine at the White House in January

It was not immediately clear which vaccine or how many doses each received.

The revelation comes after the former president on Sunday during his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, called on his followers to be vaccinated for the virus, and the audience said: ‘How painful that the vaccine was shot so everyone shot you. ‘This encouragement has marked a significant shift, as Trump has long rejected the seriousness of the virus during his tenure and has deviated from practices such as social distance and wearing a mask.
CNN reported earlier that a White House official said in mid-December that Trump would not be given a coronavirus vaccine until it was recommended by the White House medical team.
Trump’s decision to quietly receive the vaccine, without public fanfare, contrasts sharply with his successor and predecessors. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were each vaccinated on live television in December, and former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton volunteered in December to get their Covid-19 vaccines on camera to the public. promote confidence in the safety of the vaccine. .
Former President Jimmy Carter was also vaccinated against the virus.

During his CPAC speech, Trump, who oversaw the rapid development of coronavirus vaccines by Operation Warp Speed ​​Task Force, said his government deserves much of the credit for the current rate of vaccinations in the United States and has repeatedly stated refers to Covid-19 with a racist term. .

“Let them never forget that it’s us. We did it,” he said of developing the vaccine.

Trump’s comments were at odds with CNN’s January report that Biden and his advisers had not inherited any distribution plan for the Trump administration’s coronavirus vaccine.

In the immediate hours after Biden was sworn in on Wednesday, sources with direct knowledge of the new government’s Covid-related work told CNN one of the biggest shocks the Biden team had to endure during the transition period was what they as a complete considered. lack of a vaccine distribution strategy under Trump, even weeks after multiple vaccines were approved for use in the United States.

CNN’s Maeve Reston, MJ Lee and Paul LeBlanc contributed to this report.

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