Trump to order government to vaccinate Americans first

President Trump will sign an executive order on Tuesday affirming that Americans should receive coronavirus vaccines before any are distributed to other nations.

Trump will sign the order during a White House summit on Operation Warp Speed, the public-private program aimed at accelerating the delivery of a vaccine for COVID-19.

“The executive order reaffirms to the American people that we’re going to put America first working to ensure that they have access to a vaccine,” a senior administration official told reporters on a call Monday.

The order also lays out a framework for U.S. government agencies to coordinate in order to assist foreign countries in getting immunizations after the American public is vaccinated, according to the official.

“Once we have ensured the ability to meet the needs of the American people, it would be then in the interest of the United States to facilitate international access to COVID vaccines,” the official said.

Trump will deliver remarks at Tuesday’s summit, during which he plans to discuss the administration’s success in vaccine development and congratulate those involved, according to another official.

Trump has repeatedly taken credit for the swift development of a vaccine for the coronavirus.