Mike Pence just got a COVID-19 vaccine on live TV, as Trump sits out leading the US rollout

• Vice President Mike Pence got a COVID-19 vaccine on Friday morning.

• Pence, his wife, and US Surgeon General Jerome Adams were injected with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at 8 a.m. in Washington, DC.

• "I didn't feel a thing," Pence said. He was told to come back in 21 days for the second dose.

• President Donald Trump has said he will take the vaccine, but he did not attend the event on Friday. According to a report, he explicitly refused to be the figurehead of the US vaccination drive.

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Vice President Mike Pence got a COVID-19 vaccine on Friday morning, as President Donald Trump takes a back seat in leading the rollout.

Pence, second lady Karen Pence, and US Surgeon General Jerome Adams were inoculated with the first dose of the two-shot Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at 8 a.m. in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC.

The White House and US news networks livestreamed the event.

"I didn't feel a thing," the vice president said, adding that the vaccine was "safe and effective."

Medics told Pence to come back in 21 days for the second dose.

Pence is the first high-ranking US official to get the vaccine.

Trump has indicated that he will take the vaccine but has not specified a time or said whether he would do it live on TV. He did not attend the event on Friday.

Trump's aides reportedly asked him to be the face of the US vaccine drive, but he declined, leaving the job to Pence.

The US government on Thursday launched a $250 million program to boost confidence in the vaccine and push back on baseless conspiracy theories that claim it is dangerous.

President-elect Joe Biden is set to get vaccinated early next week, according to reports. Former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush have all pledged to take the vaccine live on TV.

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