Shortly after news broke that the White House was planning to give some staffers early access to the coronavirus vaccine, President Donald Trump walked back the plan to prioritize members of the administration Sunday night. “Senior officials across all three branches of government will receive vaccinations pursuant to continuity of government protocols established in executive policy,” National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot said in a statement Sunday before Trump reversed the decision. “People working in the White House should receive the vaccine somewhat later in the program, unless specifically necessary,” Trump tweeted several hours later. “I have asked that this adjustment be made. I am not scheduled to take the vaccine, but look forward to doing so at the appropriate time. Thank you!”
The first wave of vaccinations is set to begin this week, and the White House plan was to include some members of Trump’s inner circle and senior staffers of key agencies among those with early access to the vaccine, along with health care workers and residents and workers at long-term care facilities. Under normal circumstances, with a White House that acts in good faith, having key members of the government get inoculated first wouldn’t, or shouldn’t, be all that controversial. White House workers do perform critical roles and should, within reason, be treated as such. This administration, however, has never acted in good faith, particularly when it comes to its handling of the coronavirus.
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For a group that has largely refused to wear masks, social distance, or take other rudimentary precautions to avoid contracting the virus, the idea of giving them preferential treatment feels akin to a Wall Street bailout. Or a Trump pardon. Even if preferential treatment doesn’t quite reward bad behavior, it certainly excuses it. There have been numerous instances over the past 10 months that have exposed the faultiness of the American social contract. You don’t have to be perfect, but you have to at least try. And this White House quite simply hasn’t. The Trumps, after all, have hosted a string of holiday parties at the White House over the past week. The entirety of Trumpworld basically spent the last weeks of the campaign downplaying the impact of the coronavirus, taking essentially zero personal responsibility for spreading it liberally among themselves (and others), before checking into the hospital and availing themselves of treatments few others have access to. Under normal circumstances, people filling these roles should be prioritized, but the Trump administration has already spent the last four years prioritizing itself. Now, it’s someone else’s turn.
