Former President Donald Trump and former first lady Melania Trump reportedly received the coronavirus vaccine in January before they departed the White House, according to a media report.
CNN’s Jim Acosta quoted an unnamed Trump adviser as confirming the news, which was reported Monday afternoon on social media.
Trump contracted the coronavirus only weeks before Nov. 3 in a reelection bid he eventually lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump spent three days at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center before returning to the Oval Office. Trump received an experimental drug not readily available to the public.
Upon his return, White House officials said Trump’s staff was wearing gowns, gloves, masks and eye protection.
Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic was a key issue in last year’s presidential election. The U.S. continues to lead the world in confirmed cases — 28.6 million — and deaths, with more than 513,000.
Over the weekend, the Biden White House announced nearly 4 million doses of the newest COVID-19 vaccine were shipped Sunday night. They will begin to be delivered to states for injections starting Tuesday.
The new administration said the entire stockpile of the newly approved single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine is going out immediately. J&J will deliver about 16 million more doses by the end of March and 100 million total by the end of June, but the distribution would be backloaded.
The U.S. now has three vaccines to combat the deadly global pandemic.
The FDA said J&J’s vaccine offers strong protection against what matters most: serious illness, hospitalization and death. One dose was 85% protective against the most severe COVID-19 illness, in a massive study that spanned three continents — protection that remained strong even in countries such as South Africa, where the variants of most concern are spreading.
“This is really good news,” Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, told The Associated Press during the weekend. “The most important thing we can do right now is to get as many shots in as many arms as we can.”
By the end of March, J&J has said it expects to deliver 20 million doses to the U.S. and 100 million by summer.
J&J also is seeking authorization for emergency use of its vaccine in Europe and from the World Health Organization. The company aims to produce about 1 billion doses globally by the end of the year. On Thursday, the island nation of Bahrain became the first to clear its use.
“This is exciting news for all Americans, and an encouraging development in our efforts to bring an end to the crisis,” Biden said in a statement. “But I want to be clear: this fight is far from over,” he added, encouraging people to stick with masks and other public health measures.
In the U.S., the two-dose Pfizer and Moderna shots were 95% protective against symptomatic COVID-19. J&J’s one-dose effectiveness of 85% against severe COVID-19 dropped to 66% when moderate cases were rolled in. But there’s no apples-to-apples comparison because of differences in when and where each company conducted its studies, with the Pfizer and Moderna research finished before concerning variants began spreading.
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