Three of the four living former presidents have volunteered to get vaccinated publicly to prove it is safe, and CNN says it is waiting to hear back from the fourth, 96-year-old Jimmy Carter. Freddy Ford, George W. Bush's chief of staff, says the Republican reached out to Dr. Anthony Fauci and other coronavirus response coordinators weeks ago to let them know "he wants to do what he can to help encourage his fellow citizens to get vaccinated. First, the vaccines need to be deemed safe and administered to the priority populations. Then, President Bush will get in line for his, and will gladly do so on camera," Ford tells CNN.
Angel Urena, Bill Clinton's press secretary, says the Democrat will also get vaccinated when possible, and "will do it in a public setting if it will help urge all Americans to do the same." Bush and Clinton are both 74 years old. Barack Obama, 59, told SiriusXM in an interview set to air Thursday that if Fauci supports the vaccine and it is made available to people not in high-risk groups, he is willing to be vaccinated on camera "just so that people know that I trust this science," Politico reports. "People like Anthony Fauci, who I know, and I’ve worked with, I trust completely," Obama said. "So if Anthony Fauci tells me this vaccine is safe ... absolutely I’m going to take it.” (More coronavirus vaccine stories.)