Forcing military leaders to take the vaccine overcomes public skepticism

WASHINGTON—Congress is grappling with whether lawmakers should be among the first to receive the coronavirus vaccine, which the Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve on an emergency basis in coming days.

The authorization is expected to lead to distribution by year’s end to limited groups such as health-care workers and the elderly, with several months until the general public is able to get vaccinated. Now policy makers face the question of whether lawmakers should receive priority as important elected officials and to give the public confidence in the vaccine—or whether they should wait in line with their constituents.

“There are ongoing discussions,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D., Md.) said on Wednesday. “Of course, many qualify in terms of the high-risk groups, in terms of age. But in addition to that, clearly, it is critical that we have the Congress in a condition where it can operate on a continuing basis, given the challenges that confront us of great immediacy.”

The Senate’s health-panel chairman, Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.), said he had early Wednesday told Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield and other public officials they needed to decide when lawmakers should be vaccinated.

“If they want public figures to take the vaccine early in order to reassure Americans that it’s safe, I’m sure many of us will do that,” Mr. Alexander said he told Mr. Redfield. “They need to say it’s more important for public figures to take it in order to encourage people to do it. If they do that, I’ll be glad to take it, but I’m not going to do that on my own. I’m going to do it when the public-health officials tell me it’s my turn.”

‘I’m going to do it when the public-health officials tell me it’s my turn,’ said the Senate’s health-panel chairman, Lamar Alexander, on taking the vaccine.

Mr. Redfield said he would think about it, according to Mr. Alexander. A CDC spokeswoman didn’t comment on the conversation with Mr. Redfield. She said that an outside CDC advisory committee typically makes recommendations to the CDC director.

Lawmakers say the decision on vaccines rests with party leaders including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) A spokesman for Mr. McConnell declined to comment. A spokesman for Mrs. Pelosi declined to comment. Mrs. Pelosi and Mr. McConnell were reluctant to bring a testing program to the Capitol early on in the pandemic, not wanting to be seen getting preferential treatment. Free testing is now available for lawmakers and staff.

Members of both parties have largely voiced support of the vaccine, as long as it is approved by government protocols. But they say that the balance is a delicate one.

“I do think it’s important for leaders to show that the vaccine is safe and set an example,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.). “At the same time, that shouldn’t allow us to jump the line.”

“I’ll take it first, take it last, take it based on seniority. I don’t care,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) said.

Already, more than two dozen federal lawmakers have tested positive for the virus. Outbreaks have at times disrupted the congressional schedule and prevented the GOP-controlled Senate from confirming one of President Trump’s nominees to the Federal Reserve’s board of governors when two Republicans were absent because of health worries. Lawmakers are considered essential employees based on guidance from the Department of Homeland Security, and most travel frequently.

“The better thing they could do would be to demonstrate that even among the members of Congress, the deference goes to members who have a comorbidity or are older and at risk of becoming critically ill or dying,” said Dr. Daniel Sulmasy, acting director of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University, which specializes in bioethics. “And then those who are not in that category could demonstrate that they are patient and will wait their turn.”

More than 200 current members of Congress are over the age of 65—the age group in which people become at least 90 times more likely to die from the coronavirus than people 18 to 29 years old, based on CDC data. More than half of the Senate is over 65 years old, and seven senators are at least 80 years old, based on data maintained by Harvard University’s Dataverse Repository.

Across the rest of the government, other plans are unfolding. In early November, the White House budget office directed federal agencies to compile a list of essential employees who should get priority in receiving a vaccine, according to an administration official. Agencies were directed to include a brief explanation of why those employees are essential to the agency’s function. The lists were due last month.

An Office of Management and Budget spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Only a handful of agencies—including the Defense Department, State Department, Indian Health Service, Veterans Health Administration and Bureau of Prisons—are expected to receive a direct supply of vaccines from the federal government, according to a person familiar with the matter. The White House declined to comment on how it would determine the rollout of the vaccine among officials in the Trump administration.

President-elect Joe Biden has said he would get the vaccine and be willing to do it in public to set an example. When asked about plans to vaccinate officials in his White House staff, a transition official said, “The president-elect has previously said he would listen to the guidance of scientists and get vaccines to those most at-risk,” adding that details would be released later.

Some researchers say that prominent people getting the vaccine and encouraging others to do the same could help overcome skepticism. Polls have shown that vaccine mistrust is greatest among Black adults, who are almost three times as likely to die from the virus as white Americans.

House Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn, the top Black lawmaker in the House, said he grew up hearing about the Tuskegee, Ala., experiment that ran until 1972 in which Black men with syphilis had treatment withheld from them.

“When the scientists say that they are ready for us to have it, let’s do it in a very public way,” Mr. Clyburn said. “I don’t think that lawmakers ought to get ahead, but we ought to take our place wherever the scientists tell us,” Mr. Clyburn said.