US President Donald Trump is "absolutely open" to taking the coronavirus vaccine but his priority is frontline workers and the most vulnerable, the White House has said.
The US on Friday allowed the emergency use of COVID-19 vaccine developed by American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech with a critical care nurse in New York receiving the first jab.
"The President, currently at this moment, has said he is absolutely open to taking the vaccine. He's been emphatic about that to me privately and to you all publicly. But he did recently recover from COVID," White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters on Tuesday when asked if the president plans to take the vaccine in public to inspire confidence among the people.
"He has the continued protective effects of the monoclonal antibody cocktail that I mentioned, and he will receive the vaccine as soon as his medical team determines it's best. But his priority is frontline workers, those in long-term care facilities, and he wants to make sure that the vulnerable get access first," McEnany said.
Trump was hospitalised with COVID-19 in October.
In the past week, the US, the worst-hit nation, has reported an average of more than 215,000 new infections a day.
More than 303,000 people in the US have died from coronavirus in 10 months, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Former presidents Bill Clinton, George Bush and Barack Obama along with President-elect Joe Biden have said that they would publicly take the vaccine.
