Ivanka Trump Encourages People to Get COVID Vaccine — and the Internet Has Thoughts

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Ivanka Trump/Instagram Ivanka Trump (left) receives her first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday

Ivanka Trump received the first dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday and soon urged everyone else to do the same.

It was a brief announcement that inspired much reaction on social media, reflecting how the former first daughter — though out of the White House — is not too far from her divisive reputation as dad Donald Trump's senior adviser.

On Instagram, where Ivanka posted a photo of herself receiving her shot at a Florida CVS, the comments soon filled with people opposed to vaccination. Others channeled the language of conservatives skeptical of the pandemic at all.

As one user wrote, "I was hoping you were above this kind of virtue signaling."

On Twitter, another user, referring to the former president's downplaying of the pandemic, wrote: "Remember when it was a hoax."

"I'm grateful to have received my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine today and encourage all Americans to get vaccinated as soon as they are able," Ivanka, 39, said in a statement first shared with the Associated Press. "Getting vaccinated is our best way to beat this virus and protect ourselves and others."

A source close to Ivanka tells PEOPLE she spoke out to address opposition to the coronavirus vaccine, which surveys show is higher among Republicans.

"She feels it's vital to underscore the importance of getting vaccinated and to encourage others to do so as soon as they are able," the source says.

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Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty From left: Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner

The source says Ivanka "has full confidence in the vaccines available."

President Trump, who openly waffled on the importance of other key precautions around the pandemic and suggested the risks were exaggerated, has likewise encouraged people — specifically his supporters — to get vaccinated.

Ivanka and husband Jared Kushner, another senior Trump adviser, moved to Florida after leaving the White House in January. They are living in the Miami area and purchased a secluded, multimillion-dollar undeveloped lot near Miami Beach.

The move south — rather than a return to New York City — drew some notice and set off speculation that Ivanka might pursue her own run for office.

Aides said in February she would not challenge Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican, and those close to her downplay her polarization. In her first public appearance in Florida, in March, she volunteered at a food distribution site.

"She's been spending a lot of quality time with her kids and her family, as well as settling into their new home and all that comes with it," says the Ivanka source. "She's been really enjoying her time."

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Kushner, with whom Ivanka shares daughter Arabella and sons Theodore and Joseph, is thought to be working on local real-estate development deals.

A second source close to Kushner, 40, confirmed this week he would also soon receive his first dose of the vaccine.

According to available data, the pandemic has killed more than 560,000 people in the U.S.