Trump and Melania release Christmas message, hail COVID-19 vaccine as 'miracle'

US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump released a special message for the American people on the occasion of Christmas. Highlighting the relevance of the festival, the first couple thanked the Lord for giving "peace to our soul and joy to the world." In addendum, the Trumps also acknowledged the effect of the global pandemic and said that production and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines was nothing less than a "Christmas Miracle".

"We're grateful for all the scientists, researchers, manufacturing workers, and service members, who have worked tirelessly to make this breakthrough possible. It is truly a Christmas miracle," Trump said in the short video.

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According to John Hopkins University, America has recorded a total of 18,680,653 coronavirus cases and 329,355 fatalities to date and the hospitalisation cases are surging at an alarming rate. However, with the onset of mass inoculation, millions of Americans are now hoping for the pandemic to end soon. Earlier this month, the US Food and Drug Association (FDA) approved the emergency use of two vaccine candidates – Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna with mass inoculation beginning on December 18.

US President-elect Joe Biden, on December 21, received the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at a hospital in Newark, Delaware. The vaccination process was also broadcasted live on television across the 50 states. With just a month left for his White House inauguration, Biden took the opportunity to urge all Americans to get inoculated as soon as the vaccine becomes available to them. Earlier, Vice President Mike Pence also received the Pfizer-BioNTech shot on live television, along with Surgeon General Jerome Adams to assure the people about the effectiveness of the vaccine. 

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Increased vaccine doses

Following a new $2 billion deal with the US government, Pfizer and BioNTech will be providing the US with an additional 100 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine by mid-summer. This addition means, the US pharmaceutical company and the German drugmaker will now be delivering a total of 200 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine candidates to the United States resulting in immunisation of nearly 100 million people against the highly-infectious disease.

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