Trump Urges Supporters to Get A COVID-19 Vaccine

During an interview on Fox News yesterday, former President Donald Trump encouraged followers to get a COVID-19 vaccine. In fact, he recommends getting vaccinated and he believes they are safe and effective.

RELATED: Trump Wants America First for COVID-19 Vaccines

Trump Recommends That Followers Get COVID-19 Vaccines

Trump acknowledges each American’s freedom to choose, and he agrees totally with it. “I would recommend it. And I would recommend it to a lot of people that don’t want to get it and a lot of those people voted for me, frankly. But again, we have our freedoms and we have to live by that and I agree with that also. But it is a great vaccine. It is a safe vaccine and it is something that works,” he said during his interview. “It works incredibly well. 95%, maybe even more than that…and it is really saving our country and it is saving frankly the world,” he added. 

Prior to leaving the White House last January, the former President and the first lady, Melania Trump, quietly received their coronavirus vaccines. Citing unnamed advisers, various news media outfits confirmed that the Trumps opted to get their vaccines without fanfare. The White House did not provide any details on the vaccination, including vaccine type and the number of doses. Meanwhile, other officials including President Joe Biden, VP Kamala Harris, and former VP Mike Pence got their shots publicly and with extensive media coverage. Both Donald and Melania Trump previously contracted Covid-19 during the 2020 presidential campaign and recovered completely.

Trump’s Huge Influence On Republicans

In the interview, Trump said he credits his administration for betting big on manufacturers developing the vaccine before everybody knew what really worked. “We saved many months and millions of lives by doing that,” he said. He decided to speak about COVID-19 vaccines after Dr. Anthony Fauci said that Trump’s endorsement can help convince people to accept the vaccine. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, acknowledged the huge influence of the former President.

“He’s a very widely popular person among Republicans. If he came out and said, go and get a COVID-19 vaccine, it’s really important for your health, the health of your family, and the health of the country, it seems absolutely inevitable that the vast majority of people who are his close followers would listen to him. He’s such a strong popular person. I cannot imagine that if he comes out that they would not get a COVID-19 vaccine. It would be very helpful to the effort for that to happen,” Fauci said. 

Operation Warp Speed is Trump’s Accomplishment

In addition, Fauci gave credit to Trump’s accomplishment in creating Operation Warp Speed. This program directed the HHS to secure contracts from pharma companies developing a COVID-19 vaccine during the height of the pandemic. Consequently, this allowed the United States to get guaranteed early batches of COVID-19 vaccines with Emergency Use Authorization. In fact, around 10% of the US population already received vaccine shots. Specifically, the US already administered 111 million doses, with an average output of 2.44 million doses per day.

“I mean clearly Operation Warp Speed started in the Trump administration. It was very successful in getting us the vaccines we have right now. It seems like an intrinsic contradiction, the fact that you had a program that was started during his presidency and he’s not out telling people to get a COVID-19 vaccine,” Fauci added. “I wish he would. He has such an incredible influence over people in the Republican Party. It would really be a game-changer if he did.”

Watch the Fox News Exclusive video where former President Trump urges followers to get a COVID-19 vaccine:

Will you follow the advice of Trump and get a COVID-19 vaccine? Or, will you remain skeptical of the vaccine and its unknown effects? Let us know what you think about getting vaccines. Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.