Covid-19 Vaccinated Public Figures
Alexander Van der Bellen, the president of Austria, has received his first dose of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine on Friday, he announced on Twitter, adding it was "just a little prick".
"I hope there will soon be enough vaccine so that everyone who wants to can get vaccinated. Because every vaccination counts and is a contribution to normalization - so that we can hopefully soon meet again without worrying, sit together and chat," he added.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the president of Germany, has been vaccinated with AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine at the Bundeswehr Hospital in Berlin on Thursday, his office reported.
"I trust the vaccines approved in Germany," Steinmeier said in a statement. "Today I received my first vaccination with AstraZeneca. Vaccination is the crucial step on the way out of the pandemic. Take advantage of the opportunities. Get involved!"
CNN reports that Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump were vaccinated against the coronavirus back in January. Further details about their vaccination were not available.
According to The New York Times, both received at least the first dose of the vaccine before leaving the White House before President Joe Biden's inauguration.
The news came a day after Trump spoke at the CPAC political conference and said, "Everyone should go get your shot," encouraging everyone to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.
In Halle, offices of the city and Mayor Bernd Wiegand have been searched since Monday morning. According to the public prosecutor's office, this concerns a preliminary investigation against Wiegand because of his premature Covid-19 vaccination.
There is suspicion that the Covid-19 vaccine was embezzled - i.e. intentionally - according to the statement of the public prosecutor's office. The search covered the office of the mayor, rooms of the municipal health department and the vaccination center. The public prosecutor's office pointed out that the search was not tantamount to a preliminary conviction. The presumption of innocence applies.
After finish negotiating the purchase of 38 million doses of the Chinese vaccine Sinopharm, the Peruvian ex-president Martín Vizcarra and authorities were vaccinated. Pilar Mazzetti, head of the Health Minister, and Foreign Minister Elizabeth Astete left their offices.
On Twitter Astete announced her resignation on Twitter and admitted that it was a "serious mistake". They claim they were part of the clinical trial, but they are not registered as volunteers.
The head of the Defence Chief of Staff (Jemad), General Miguel Ángel Villarroya, resigned on Saturday after it was revealed the day before that he and other military commanders had already been vaccinated in the Covid-19 despite not being part of the priority immunisation groups.
In the missive, General Villaroya defends his decision to vaccinate himself and the generals and commanders of the Defence Staff (Emad), who were not among the groups established as priorities, claiming that "in fulfilling his obligations, by the established protocols and with the sole aim of preserving the integrity, continuity and efficiency of the chain of command of the Armed Forces" he had "recently taken decisions that he considers being right", but which are "damaging the public image of the Armed Forces and calling into question" his "own honesty".
The Argentinean President Alberto Fernández received Thursday the first dose of the Russian Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine.
After a controversy over whether studies would come from Moscow to support the use of the vaccine in people over 60, the National Administration of Drugs, Food and Medical Technology (Anmat) on Wednesday authorised its use in the age group most at risk from the coronavirus.
On Monday, the government released an official timetable promising that another 4.7 million Russian Sputnik V vaccine doses will arrive in the country before the end of the month. The schedule for the delivery of the vaccine announced by the government began in December with the arrival of 300,000 doses and continues in January with 5,000,000 more (300,000 were delivered on the last Saturday), while another 14,700,000 are expected in February.
The Vatican confirmed on Thursday that Pope Francis, aged 84, and retired Pope Benedict, aged 93, have had their first doses of a coronavirus vaccine. The pontiff and his predecessor got the first half of their vaccinations as part of a campaign for Vatican City residents and employees launched on January 13th.
"You are gambling with your health, with your life, but you are also gambling with the lives of others," Francis said in a recent interview with Italian broadcaster Canale 5. He said "anti-vaxxers" were living in inexplicable "suicidal denial."
In December, the head of the Vatican's health service said the tiny city-state would roll out its vaccination program with the Pfizer medication.
Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip have received their first dose of vaccine against the new coronavirus, Buckingham Palace announced. A second source told the British news agency PA that the Queen and her husband had been vaccinated by the royal family's doctor at Windsor Castle, where they spend the confinement period. Usually quite discreet about her state of health, "the Queen has decided to make this information public to avoid inaccuracies and possible rumours," added PA.
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has gotten his first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine injected in front of television cameras. At a hospital in Newark, Delaware, he called on Americans to do the same: there is no need to worry, he said. His wife, Jill, has also been vaccinated. She received the vaccine from BioNTech and Pfizer, which was also approved in the EU today.
On Friday Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi both received Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine. Dr. Brian Monahan, who administered the vaccine, urges people to get vaccinated, saying that his "recommendation to you is absolutely unequivocal: there is no reason why you should defer receiving this vaccine" and that the "benefit far exceeds any small risk."
Together with his wife Karen, Mike Pence has been vaccinated against the corona virus. It is a "medical miracle" that the first vaccine is now being administered in states across the country, said the US Vice President.
He said that by vaccinating themselves, he and his wife wanted to reassure the American people that the vaccine was safe and effective despite its rapid development. "Karen and I hope that this step today will be a source of confidence and comfort to the American people," Pence said.
The US government's top health official, Vice Admiral Jerome Adams, also got vaccinated at the White House event.
The actor Sir Ian McKellen, who is most famous for his role as Gandalf in Lord of the Rings, has received the Covid-19 vaccine by Pfizer/BioNTech. Being 81 years old, the actor was among the first groups to be vaccinated in the United Kingdom.
He publically stated: "I really hope that, as more people get vaccinated, we will move further along the path back to a more normal way of life".