Donald, Melania Trump receive COVID-19 vaccine before leaving White House [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• The New York Post confirmed that former President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump were given the vaccine shots in January before leaving the White House.
• There were no details on the brand of vaccine and how many doses the couple had received.
• During his address at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Sunday, Trump made his first public encouragement to get the COVID-19 vaccines.

As confirmed by The New York Post, former President Donald Trump and former first lady Melania Trump were administered with the COVID-19 vaccine in January before officially departing from office.

Per a source familiar with the inoculations, the first couple was privately given the shots at the White House shortly before President Joe Biden assumed the presidency.

The 74-year-old former leader continuously played down the coronavirus pandemic since the first case of infection confirmed early last year. He contracted the virus in October and got admitted to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for three days.

The 50-year-old former first lady also tested positive for the virus in the same month, though she was not brought to the hospital for further nursing and was only then advised to do self-isolation.

It was not clear, though, which type of vaccine and how many doses the two had gotten.

While the Trumps decided to get the vaccines in private, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and even former Vice President Mike Pence, among other top US officials, have opted to get vaccinated in public in a bid to boost confidence in the Americans that the drugs were safe.

Per The Guardian, the news about the Trumps’ inoculation was revealed after the ex-president made his first public appearance and address during Sunday’s Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida. 

“Everyone should go get your shot,” he told the audience, provoking the media to raise suspicions whether he already received one.

Trump’s speech marked the first time that Trump publicly expressed support to get vaccine shots.

In the past decade, the former leader joined the anti-vaccination movement by promoting conspiracy theories.

“I think the vaccines can be very dangerous. And, obviously, you know, a lot of people are talking about vaccines with children with respect to autism,” he wrote on Twitter back in 2009, per the New York Times.

Source: New York Post