Fmr. presidents offer to get COVID vaccine on TV

Former U.S. Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have all said they were willing to be vaccinated against COVID-19 on television in order to ease any public skepticism over the safety of the new vaccines.

In an interview with Sirius XM radio that aired Wednesday, Obama said he would do his vaccination on television so that (quote), “people know that I trust this science.”

Bush - Obama's predecessor and a Republican - is willing to get a vaccine on camera once the U.S. Food and Drug Administration grants emergency approval, according to Freddy Ford, Bush's chief of staff.

Democratic president Bill Clinton - who left office in 2001 - said he would take the vaccine as soon as it was available to him and he will do it in a public setting.

An FDA panel of outside advisers is due to meet on Dec. 10 to discuss whether to recommend emergency use authorization of a vaccine developed by Pfizer with German partner BioNTech shown to be 95% effective at preventing illness.

U.S. health officials predict the first inoculations could start days or weeks later.

Moderna’s vaccine, which employs similar technology as Pfizer's and was nearly 95% effective in its pivotal trial, is expected to be reviewed a week later.

This news comes as a significant minority of Americans are skeptical of the science behind vaccinations and wary of the record speed at which COVID-19 vaccines have been developed, although 58% of Americans told Gallup pollsters last month they would get a coronavirus vaccine, up from 50% in September.

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about Trump's predecessor's comments on Thursday.

But the office of Vice President Mike Pence referred reporters to earlier interviews in which Pence said he would be “proud to take a vaccine the moment that it’s available.”