Trump urges Americans to get Covid-19 vaccine: ‘I would recommend it’

“I would recommend it and I would recommend it to a lot of people who do not want it, and a lot of people honestly vote for me,” Trump told Maria Bartiromo of Fox News.

“But again,” he continued, “we have our freedoms and we have to live by them and I agree with that too. But it’s an excellent vaccine. It’s a safe vaccine and it’s something that works.”

The remarks – which amount to Trump’s most energetic endorsement of vaccination – come because the vaccination of the vaccine among Republicans continues to threaten the U.S.’s path to herd immunity. While 92% of Democrats have been vaccinated or are about to be vaccinated, that number is dropping to 50% among Republicans, according to a CNN poll conducted by SSRS.
Although Trump encouraged his followers to “go shooting” during his speech at the Conservative political action conference last month, he decided to receive the vaccine quietly earlier this year without public fanfare, showing keen scrutiny and contrasting 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.

Earlier this week, the Trump administration’s coronavirus testing agent, adm. Brett Giroir, appealed to Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence to encourage vaccinations in light of the data indicating that many Republicans do not intend to be vaccinated.

“I think it’s very important for former President Trump – as well as the Vice President – to actively encourage all their followers to get the vaccine,” Giroir told CNN’s Jake Tapper on ‘The Lead’.

Asked why Trump was vaccinated behind closed doors and whether it was a mistake, Giroir said he did not know the former president had been vaccinated “until I heard it as reported in the news, and later added : “But I think the point is now, and I think that’s where we are, that we should all come together and encourage every American. ‘

“The people who follow our former president are very committed to President Trump, and I think his leadership still matters a lot, and I think we need to do a better job of reaching the minority communities that have been so excessively affected. . “

CNN’s Jim Acosta and Caroline Kelly contributed to this report.

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