Vice President Mike Pence received his Covid-19 vaccine shot on Friday, televising his experience in order to convince more Americans, including skeptical backers of President Donald Trump, to take the vaccine when it becomes available. The Capitol’s physician received enough vaccine doses to inoculate senior members of Congress as well as Supreme Court Justices. Both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed they would be getting the shots. President Trump has yet to be vaccinated although he has said he would take it. Political leaders began receiving the vaccine after health workers in hard hit states and nursing home staff and residents were prioritized. Now, vaccine supplies are also heading to Indian country, which has been hard hit. The Navajo nation of 170,000 people has had 20,000 infections and more than 700 deaths. Prison inmates have also been disproportionately impacted by the disease as one in five has contracted it and 1,700 have died from it. But incarcerated individuals have been excluded from vaccine plans as public health experts sound the alarm. Teachers are also hoping to be among the early recipients of the vaccine so that kids can get back to school in person as soon as possible. The Los Angeles Times on Friday reported that wealthy Americans are audaciously offering bribes to cut ahead of the vaccine line. According to the paper, “Some wealthy patients may get the shots sooner than the average person because they’re members of exclusive healthcare groups that offer the kind of high-quality, primary care most Americans can’t afford.” 

Meanwhile as the U.S.’s vaccine supply is divvied up and sent to all corners of a desperate nation, there are reports of shortages already as the federal government reduces vaccine shipments without explanation even as the manufacturer, Pfizer, says there are millions of doses available but not yet shipped out. In a statement the company said, “We have millions more doses sitting in our warehouse but, as of now, we have not received any shipment instructions for additional doses.” States that had laid out complex plans for inoculation are now scrambling to account for far fewer doses than they were initially promised. It is not clear yet why the federal government is withholding the shipments of vaccines. Meanwhile the FDA is expected to approve a second vaccine on Friday, this one by Moderna corporation.

California has now become the hardest hit state in the nation with Southern California in particular becoming the new epicenter of the virus. ICU bed capacity is dangerously low.