Subject:* A friend wanted you to see this item from WRAL.com: https://wr.al/1JY0g Mike Pence received his COVID-19 vaccine on Friday before commenting on its importance along with U.S. health officials. Show Transcript Yeah. Are any of you immuno compromised or on immuno suppressant? Right. Good to go. Yeah, that's really interesting. Sure. Pretty great job, please. Today you'll be getting a shot record proving that you receive the vaccine from us today. And this vaccine is a tudo Siri's. So that means you want to come back in 21 days for the second one again, with any vaccine, you could have a pretty sore arm at the injection site. Maybe some readiness. But if anything else happens, make sure contact a medical provider or go seek medical care bridge. Thank you. Thanks. Well, good morning. And thank you all for being here. I want to thank my wonderful wife, our second lady, Karen Pence, the Surgeon General, Dr Tony Fauci and members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force who are joining us here today. I especially want to thank the fine medical team, but at Walter Reed Hospital that administered are vaccine today. I didn't feel a thing well done. And we appreciate your service to the country. You know, it's the Christmas holiday approaches. This is always a season of hope. We gather here today at the end of a historic week to affirm to the American people that hope is on the way. And Karen and I were more than happy to step forward before this week was out to take the safe and effective coronavirus vaccine that we have secured and produced for the American people. It's truly inspiring day. As the people of this country witnessed this thing this past week under Operation Warp Speed, the first coronavirus vaccine is literally being administered in states across the country to millions of Americans. And make no mistake about it, it's a medical miracle. The average vaccine, I'm told by our experts usually takes between eight and 12 years to develop and then manufacture and distribute. But we're on track here in the United States to administer millions of doses to the American people in less than one year. It is a miracle indeed, and I also believe that history will record that this week was the beginning of the end of the coronavirus pandemic. But with cases rising across the country with hospitalizations rising across the country, we have a ways to go and I want to assure the American people that we're going to continue to make sure that our health care providers have all the support and resource is they need to meet this moment. But vigilance and the vaccine is our way through, and building confidence in the vaccine is what brings us here this morning. Ever since I was asked by President Trump toe lead the White House coronavirus Task Force, I have been inspired by the diligence and and energy of our researchers in this country. Early on, the president brought some of the leading pharmaceutical companies in the world together in the Cabinet room and said that we needed medicines. We needed therapeutics and we needed vaccines and we needed them in record time. I watched the historic pace with which the dedicated men and women at the FDA worked. But today Karen and I wanted to step forward and take this vaccine to assure the American people that while we cut red tape, we cut no corners and thanks to Operation warp speed, thanks to incredible research companies, thanks to the great work at the National Institute of Health and the great and careful work of the FDA and the leadership of our President in Operation Warp speed, the American people can be confident we have one and perhaps within hours to safe and effective coronavirus vaccines for you and for your family. And now we're in the process of distributing millions of doses of a safe and effective vaccine all across the country, working closely with our nation's governors. We've already seen the vaccine delivered to healthcare workers and seniors across the nation. This week, 2.9 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been allocated, and next week two million more doses will be distributed across America. And as you all know, yesterday, the FDA advisory panel recommended approval of the Moderna vaccine. And when it is approved, we expect later today will be in a position to ship 5.9 million doses of vaccines all across the country next week. In fact, under operation warp speed, we are poised to have vaccine for 20 million Americans before the end of December. It is truly a medical miracle and an inspiration to people across this country. It is it's a tribute as well, Thio the dedication of of all of those working at the federal level in the state level who have implemented this project from early on, President Trump gave the White House coronavirus Task Force One mission, and that was to save lives. And in the midst of one of the most challenging years in the life of this nation, I truly do believe that despite the heartbreak and hardship that we have endured as a nation, that we've done just that. Working with members of the White House coronavirus task Force these last 10 months, we scaled testing. Now we're doing nearly two million tests today have performed more than 200 million coronavirus tests across America, and the FDA just approved first over the counter coronavirus test for at home testing for the American people. Working with a great team at FEMA and with the Department of Defense, we identified and distributed literally billions of medical supplies to our doctors and nurses and hospitals and will continue to ensure that all of our caregivers in this country have the resource is in the support they need to continue to meet. This moment we saw the development of therapeutics remedy severe monochrome oh, antibodies, the good use of steroids and other methods that have literally saved lives across the country. And as we gather here today, and as we celebrate this week, we secured a safe and effective vaccine that's being distributed all across America. I would be remiss if I didn't take this moment a t the end of this challenging year, simply to say thanks to the men and women who served on the White House coronavirus task force. You will hear from several of them in just a few moments, but let me give credit where credit is due. I want to thank Dr Tony Fauci and Dr Deborah Berks. I want to thank, uh, Dr Robert Redfield and all the great men and women at the C. D. C. I want to thank Secretary Alex Cesar of HHS and Seema Verma at the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services. And I also want to thank the great team at FEMA that has stood up the greatest national mobilization since World War two. Pete Gainer, General Sanford on all of those that have worked to make sure that that the American people in our health care workers have the supplies they need has made an extraordinary difference in the life of the nation. I'm also grateful for the steady hand and leadership of Dr Ben Carson, who has been with us every step of the way. I know I speak for every American when I say, and I speak for our president when I say thank you for your service in this year and in the days to come. The truth is, the American people deserve to know that we've never been more prepared to combat the coronavirus than we are today. And even while we see cases rising and hospitalizations rising and heartbreaking losses will continue to marshal. The resource is that we have secured as a nation, including a safe and effective vaccine, to meet this moment. But that being said, it's important that every American remember that all of us have a role to play the way through this challenging time, his vigilance and a vaccine. The day will come when we put the coronavirus in the past, but it will be a combination of all the efforts that I just described, Ah, vaccine that is safe and effective for the American people, but also the ongoing vigilance of every American. So as we Aziz, we reach this extraordinary and historic moment in the life of our nation. Let me urge every American and continue to do your part, but the health of your family, your neighbors and your community. First, practice good hygiene, wash your hands, practice social distancing or wear a mask whenever it's indicated, or whenever you're unable to practice distance and listen to your local authorities. As president, Trump often says, we are rounding the corner. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It is the light of American innovation and creativity. It is the light of life saving medicines and a safe and effective vaccine. After a year of heartbreak and hardship, the American people could be encouraged. And Karen and I hope this step today will be a source of confidence and of comfort to the American people that thanks to all the men and women who've operated under Operation Warp speak that we have a safe and effective vaccine, and that these days of hardship and heart heartbreak will in a day not too far in the distance will be put in the past. So with gratitude for the American ingenuity of our research companies with gratitude for the incredible health care workers who have met this moment and continue to meet this moment in the life of the nation with gratitude for all the officials at the federal and state level and gratitude to our president for his vision with operation warp speed. I'm confident that we will get through this. We will get through this together, and we will heal our land, so thank you all very much. Wow. Well, good morning, everyone. Thank you, Vice President Pence, for your leadership of the coronavirus Task Force into the task force members here today. Administrator Verma, Administrator Gainer. General Sanford. Uh, Dr Redfield, my buddy Ben Carson and one of my mentors, Dr Fauci. Thank you so much for the work that you have all done. It's been a marathon in the last couple of miles of a marathon. Is the Vice President says they're always the hardest, but by golly, the finish line is in sight. So we just got to keep on running American people. We need you to keep on running. We're going to get there. We have our research community as well as the tens of thousands of study participants across the country to thank for showing us that there is a light at the end of this tunnel, and I have to acknowledge the many people of color represented among the researchers who developed the vaccine. Shout out to Dr Corbett at N. I. H. An African American female who helped develop these vaccines, thanks to the scientists and doctors who reviewed it, particularly those of color and the study participants who bravely volunteered to demonstrate its safety and efficacy. And Dr Fauci and I have been working for months to make sure the trials are representative of the population so that everyone can feel safe getting this vaccine professionally and personally toe everyone who has made this day possible. Thank you with all of my heart as a practicing anesthesiologist at Walter Reed Hospital, now frequently deployed member of the U. S. Public Health Service Commission core, who's helped stand up multiple covert 19 testing sites in an individual with asthma and high blood pressure, I am acutely aware of my own increased risk for covert 19 exposure and the co morbidity that increase my risk of complications. And as the U. S. Surgeon general and a black man, I am equally aware of the symbolic significance of my vaccination today, As I've discussed with faith leaders as recently as last night, the creation of these vaccines is a gift from above. But vaccines, even ones that air 95% effective, will not alone in this pandemic. We must now do the necessary work to go from vaccines to vaccinations. It would truly be the greatest tragedy of all if disparities and covert outcomes actually worsened, because the people who could most benefit from this vaccine can't get it or won't take it. Working to combat mistrust and misinformation will be critical if we are to ensure the equitable protection off all Americans against Cove in 19. Lack of trust, especially in communities of color, is not without good reason. The shameful Tuskegee experiments occurred within many of our lifetimes. To truly promote confidence in these vaccines, we must start by acknowledging this history of mistreatment and exploitation of minorities by the medical community and the government. But then we need to explain and demonstrate all that has been done to correct and address these wrongs. The many protections and safeguards in place, like the Office of Human Research Protections, independent Institutional Review Boards, data and safety monitoring boards, three FDA verb pack and the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. These are all there to make sure tragedies like the Tuskegee syphilis experiments or the exploitation of Henrietta lacks never, ever happen again. And finally, we've got to engage trusted voices. Medical organizations like the National Medical Association and the National Hispanic Medical Association, faith leaders and minority gatekeepers like the historically black colleges and universities the divine nine tribal leaders in the National Conference of Hispanic State legislators, all of whom I'm I've spoken with frequently. And as recently as this week, because when these gatekeepers are informed and confident their communities will be informed and confident, I want to close by thing. I know the importance of representation. Many of you have heard me tell this story. I never believed that could be a doctor, much less the surgeon general of the United States, because I'd never met another black doctor, even though I had straight A's. The first doctor I met of color was Dr Ben Carson. When I was in college. It took me that long to believe that I could be it because it took me that long to see it and That's why I could not be more pleased or feel more called to receive this vaccine. It's so many people of color had a hand in developing and testing. And it has the potential to correct at least some of the health disparities this pandemic has unveiled and finally toe all the people of this great nation. It is not only okay to have questions about a treatment that you're being offered, it's normal, and I want you to understand that. But what is not normal is to let misinformation or mistrust cause you to make a decision that is bad for your health. So I promise I will keep working. I'll keep working day and night to make sure you get your questions answered and to restore your trust. I got the fax, and I made a choice to protect my health. When it's your turn, I need you to be informed on. I need you to make a choice that's gonna be appropriate for your health. Thank you so much. And I'll turn things over now to Dr Falke. Thank you very much, Jerome. Mr. Vice President, Second lady. Uh, Madam Pence Jerome. Thank you. I really feel extraordinarily privileged and honored to be with you here today to make a few comments about the most extraordinary undertaking that you see here today. Culminating in something that is an actionable intervention that will get us out of the extraordinary experience that we've had over the last year is that was sitting here listening to the remarks, uh, Vice President Pence and Jerome. I was looking over at Bob Redfield and recalling that it was about a year plus a few weeks that Bob called me up one evening at home and told me, I think we have a problem. I'm getting information from my sources in China that there is something very unusual going on there, and I'm very concerned about it. Literally a week and a half later, the effort that led to where we are today to see the vice president of the United States and the surgeon general get vaccinated with a safe and effective vaccine. Literally a few days after that, the work began to develop the vaccine, and what we saw was the marriage between years of fundamental basic and clinical research that led to the extraordinary technology that have allowed us and when I say us, I mean the medical community, so many people from so many different agencies in academia, in government and in industry to do something that is truly unprecedented. So we started literally days after that phone call that I had with Bob, and over a period of months, as opposed to years, we saw the development in record time of a vaccine that is shown to be safe and effective. We want virtually everyone eligible to get this vaccine. Ultimately, two questions get asked when people have hesitancy or reluctance to get vaccinated. Did you go to quickly is the first. The answer to that is the speed was a reflection of extraordinary scientific advances and did not compromise safety. Nor did it compromise scientific integrity. The next question is OK, but what about the fact? Is it really safe and is it really effective, or is this something the government is trying to put over on us? Is this something the companies want to take advantage off? Well, let's take a look at what's happened. Over the past few months, we've had clinical trials, and thanks to the volunteers in that trial, in tens of thousands who have put themselves on the line to prove to the country in the world that these air safe and effective products the decision as to whether or not it's safe and effective was not in the hands of the company, nor was it in the hands of the administration. It was in the hands of independent body of individuals. Scientists, vaccine ologists, ethicist statisticians to examine the data independently and say it is ready to look at for approval, at which point the company, the submits it to the FDA and together with the advisory committee of the FDA make the decision. It is now ready to go, so the process was independent and totally transparent. Which brings us to where we are today. This important symbolic vaccination of the vice president of the United States and the surgeon general of the United States, which is something we want to be symbolic to tell the rest of the country. The time is now to step to the plate, and when your time comes to get vaccinated because when we're speaking to you here today, I often say it is really bittersweet. The bitterness is the fact of what the vice president mentioned, we still are in the middle of a very difficult situation with record numbers of cases, hospitalizations and death. But the sweetness is the light at the end of the tunnel, which I can tell you as we get into January, February, March and April, that light is going to get brighter and brighter. And the bitterness is going to be replaced by the sweetness and we all hope. And I think this is doable, that by the time we get to several months into this year, we will have enough people protected that we can start thinking seriously about the return to normality and thats upto all of us to step forward and get vaccinated. Thank you. There is a press. Okay, Welcome. Where is he? Think that's sorry. What? Yes. Okay. Yeah. All right. Very good. Thanks, man. Okay. When you walk Yeah, I'm happy that no