Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) is expressing his opposition to Congress receiving the COVID-19 vaccine before the majority of Americans.
“Leaders eat last; it’s one of the first lessons a solider learns as early as basic training. Speaker Pelosi apparently never learned this lesson—asking Americans to wait to get vaccinated while Congress cuts the line is the opposite of leadership,” Mast said in a statement.
He added, “Congress needs to stop treating itself as a special political class, and the mere suggestion that Members of Congress are in any way more important than the very people who gave us the privilege of serving in Congress is appalling. Being for the people must always mean putting the people before ourselves, which is why every single American should be able to access the coronavirus vaccine before any Member of Congress.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) revealed in a statement this week, “Members of the House and Senate are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine,” as IJR previously reported.
The office of the attending physician, Brian P. Monahan, told members, “Once we have completed the vaccination of the Members, we will follow a process to identify the continuity-essential staff members in the various divisions of the Capitol community in the coming weeks.”
The statement added, “The appointing process will then continue until the small vaccine supply is exhausted. A second dose scheduling process will then begin later.”
Pelosi also said she plans to receive the vaccine in the “next few days.”
Operation Warp Speed chief adviser Dr. Moncef Slaoui said in a Fox News interview Sunday, “We would have immunized 100 million people by the first quarter of 2021.”
He continued, “We are working with Pfizer to continue helping them and supporting them achieve the objective of providing us with another 100 million doses in the second quarter of 2021.”
Slaoui explained it is concerning to see skepticism from Americans regarding the vaccine.
“It is however critical that most of the American people decide and accept to take the vaccine,”Slaoui said. “We are very concerned by the hesitancy that we see.”
The United States reported on Thursday at least 3,293 new coronavirus related deaths and 238,189 new cases.
There has been an average of 213,165 cases per day over the last week, an 18% increase from the average two weeks prior.