MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

All US surviving presidents (except Trump) release video of their inoculation; CDC says 92 million vaccinated

“This vaccine means hope,” Barak Obama says. “It will protect you and those you love from this dangerous and deadly disease.”

All surviving former US presidents except Mr Donald Trump have teamed up in a video urging Americans to get vaccinated against Covid-19. Mr Jimmy Carter, Mr George W. Bush, Mr Bill Clinton and Mr Barack Obama - and the former First Ladies, appear in the one-minute spot released on Thursday, endorsing the US vaccination campaign and sharing what they miss about pre-pandemic life.

“This vaccine means hope,” Mr Obama says. “It will protect you and those you love from this dangerous and deadly disease.” He goes on to say he misses seeing former first lady Michelle Obama's 83-year-old mother, Marian - “to hug her and see her on her birthday.”

“I want to go back to work and be able to move around,” Mr Clinton says in the ad.

Mr Bush says he cannot wait to go see his baseball team, the Texas Rangers, play in a packed stadium. “In order to get rid of this pandemic, it is important for our citizens to get vaccinated,” Mr Bush adds.

The video features stills of all eight former residents of the White House getting Covid shots.

Absent from it all are Mr Trump and former first lady Melania. Mr Trump was famously dismissive of the danger of the pandemic. He and his wife got vaccinated in January before leaving the White House but this was not disclosed for weeks.

Meanwhile the Georgia based prestigious Center for Diseases Control and Prevention in Georgia announced that over 92 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered in the United States from December 14, 2020, through 8 March 2021.