Shalala, Rubio get COVID-19 vaccine, but they aren’t taking doses away from hospitals

Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio and Miami Democratic Rep. Donna Shalala were among the first Americans to receive the coronavirus vaccine — despite not working in a long-term care or healthcare facility — because of continuity of government laws put in place after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Rubio, 49, and Shalala, 79, posted photos of themselves receiving the vaccine on social media over the weekend after the physician in charge of the U.S. Capitol said vaccines were available for all members of Congress and recommended that lawmakers take it. They both said the vaccine was safe and effective.

“I know I looked away from the needle,” Rubio tweeted. “But I am so confident that the #Covid19 vaccine is safe & effective that I decided to take it myself.”

Their social media posts also serve the purpose of raising public confidence in the vaccine. An Associated Press poll from earlier this month showed that about half of all Americans say they plan to get vaccinated, a statistic that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell noted when he received the vaccine on Friday.

“It is concerning that half of Americans feel this way,” McConnell, 78, said.

Shalala, who served as Health and Human Services Secretary under President Bill Clinton, said she was one of the people responsible for re-writing the continuity of government laws after the 9/11 attacks amid fresh concerns over how the government would function in the event of a mass attack. She said the vaccines available to members of Congress are only available in Washington through the Department of Defense and do not take away doses set aside for essential workers in Florida.

“I did not want to get it in Florida because I didn’t want to get in line ahead of anyone in Florida,” Shalala said. “It’s from an allocation determined by the Trump administration. I don’t think anyone would have done it if it came out of any [state’s] allocation.”

About 100,000 doses of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine were delivered to five Florida hospitals last week. The state expects 300,000 to 400,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to be delivered this week after it was authorized for use on Friday. Shalala said members of Congress received the Pfizer vaccine, which requires two injections about a month apart. The Moderna vaccine also requires two doses, a month apart. Shalala will receive her second shot after leaving office on Jan. 3.

Vice President Mike Pence, 61, was also vaccinated in public on Friday and President-elect Joe Biden, 78, got the vaccine on Monday. The Centers for Disease Control has recommended that all Americans 75 and older and front-line essential workers get the vaccine next after long-term care residents and healthcare workers receive vaccines.

But some politicians were critical of the directive to vaccinate members of Congress ahead of most Americans.

Florida Rep. Brian Mast, a 40-year-old Treasure Coast Republican who served in the Iraq War, said members of Congress were cutting the line.

“Leaders eat last; it’s one of the first lessons a solider learns as early as basic training,” Mast said in a statement. “Congress needs to stop treating itself as a special political class, and the mere suggestion that members of Congress are in any way more important than the very people who gave us the privilege of serving in Congress is appalling.”

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, 42, said Monday he will not receive the vaccine before the general public.

“I’m less than 45. I imagine it would take me a couple of months,” DeSantis said at a press conference in Key Biscayne. “I will do it. But I’m not stepping in line.”

Shalala said most of the lawmakers who were getting vaccinated alongside her over the weekend were Republicans and that the only vaccinations for lawmakers she’s aware of are happening in Washington. She said Mast’s comments in response to lawmakers raising public awareness about the vaccine are counterproductive.

“It’s one thing to make a personal choice not to get it,” Shalala said. “It’s another thing to criticize others who are encouraging people to get it and saying the science is safe.”

Miami Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, the first member of Congress to test positive for the coronavirus in March, said he is waiting to receive the vaccine.

“Since the Congressman has already had COVID it is presumed he has some immunity,” Diaz-Balart’s chief of staff, Cesar Gonzalez, said in an email. “He is waiting for other[s] who could be more susceptible and vulnerable to get the vaccine first.”

Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz said she will wait to get vaccinated until after the new year when she resumes regular travel between Broward County and Washington.

“While I have been advised a COVID-19 vaccination is available to all members, I’ve decided to wait until more of my vulnerable seniors and front-line South Florida constituents are able to receive the vaccine,” Wasserman Schultz said in a statement. “I eagerly support taking the vaccine, and in tandem with mask wearing, social distancing and frequent hand washing, see it as the most viable, safe and effective path to defeating this virus.”

South Florida Reps. Ted Deutch, Alcee Hastings, Frederica Wilson and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell did not immediately respond when asked if they’ve been vaccinated or have plans to get vaccinated in the near future.

Continuity of government questions are typically applied to the president and the line of presidential succession, which does not include most members of Congress. But COVID-19 has already disrupted voting in the U.S. Senate, where lawmakers are required to vote in-person during the pandemic.

Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott’s decision to quarantine due to potential coronavirus exposure in November helped sink President Donald Trump’s Federal Reserve Board nominee after fellow GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa was forced to quarantine hours before the vote. Scott, who is 68, later tested positive for COVID-19 three days after the vote.

Scott’s office said Monday he has not received the vaccine yet and is consulting with his doctor.

“The priority right now is making sure the vaccine quickly gets to those vulnerable and high-risk populations, as well as our healthcare and essential workers,” Scott spokesperson Sarah Schwirian said in an email. “But it’s also important for our political leaders to show the American people that the vaccine is safe and effective.”

Shalala, who is leaving the House of Representatives after losing to Maria Elvira Salazar in November, said she might be part of a new commission to re-examine continuity of government laws again next year. She said the 25th Amendment, which allows the vice president to serve as acting president if the president is incapacitated, must be re-worked to ensure continuity of government if both the president and vice president are incapacitated at the same time.

“I think we have to re-look at all of it, and that’s why I’m pleased the continuity commission is going to reconstitute itself early next year,” Shalala said, adding that she’ll make a decision about whether or not to join it once she leaves office next month. “We still haven’t dealt with the weakness of the 25th Amendment and what happens if the president and vice president are disabled.”

Miami Herald reporter David Smiley contributed to this report.