US President-elect Joe Biden receives Covid-19 vaccination

Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centres for Disease Prevention and Control

The US president-elect, Joe Biden, was inoculated with his first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine on Monday.

He did so publicly at the ChristianaCare Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware.

“I'm doing this to demonstrate that people should be prepared when it's available to take the vaccine. There's nothing to worry about," Mr Biden said.

He said his wife, Jill, received her shot earlier in the day.

Americans are shedding their reluctance about Covid-19 vaccines, with a recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey finding that 71 per cent are willing to get vaccinated if it is proved safe and effective, up from 63 per cent.

But concerns remain about reaching herd immunity with vaccines against the virus. The US is currently reporting about 200,000 cases each day.

Being vaccinated publicly is a trend in the US as a way to bolster confidence in the vaccines approved by US health and regulation agencies.

Vice President Mike Pence is the highest-ranking US official to receive the vaccine. He was inoculated in front of cameras in the White House on Friday. Former presidents Barack Obama, George W Bush, and Bill Clinton are committed to being vaccinated publicly.

Mr Biden thanked all the frontline healthcare workers.

"We owe these folks an awful lot, the scientists and the people who put this together, the frontline workers," he said as US healthcare workers nationwide are trying to address record hospital admissions because of Covid-19.

Vice president-elect Kamala Harris is scheduled to receive her first dose next week.

"The administration deserves some credit for getting this off the ground," Mr Biden said after receiving the shot.

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and House majority leader Nancy Pelosi also received their first doses on Friday. Other members of Congress have begun to get vaccinated.

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, still has not been inoculated. He was infected with Covid-19 in October and has since recovered.

The Centres for Disease Prevention and Control in its guidelines said previously infected people should also get inoculated.

Both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are approved by the Food and Drug Administration and the CDC.

Healthcare workers and nursing home staff are among the first to be vaccinated. There is an ongoing discussion about which US populations should be inoculated next, but it is up to the states themselves.

The US has reported more than 318,000 deaths and recorded cases are more than 17 million since the pandemic struck.