“I may end up taking it on TV or having it filmed, just so that people know that I trust this science, and what I don’t trust is getting COVID,” former President Barack Obama said during a SiriusXM interview.
Through spokespeople, former Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton, confirmed to CNN and ABC News that they would also get the vaccine on camera if it would help encourage Americans to get vaccinated.
On Friday, Vice President Mike Pence was vaccinated for COVID-19 during a live television event at the White House. His wife, Karen Pence, and Surgeon General Jerome Adams also received the vaccine. Adams had previously talked about vaccinating high-profile individuals, like presidents and public health officials, during an interview on “Good Morning America.” “There’s a symbolic part of someone like me getting vaccinated,” Adams said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci was also in favor. “I will get vaccinated and I will get vaccinated publicly,” Fauci told JAMA last week.
Offers to get vaccinated publicly isn’t just political theater, according to Noel Brewer, a professor of health behavior at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.
While researchers believe that confidence in vaccines leads to more people getting vaccinated, increasing that confidence is tricky, Brewer explained. “What is very effective is having leaders stand up for the vaccination system and for individual vaccines,” he said. “Having them offer to get vaccinated on camera is one of the single most important things that could happen.”
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