US Vice President Mike Pence receives Pfizer's Covid vaccine on live TV

Vice President Mike Pence has received Pfizer's Covid vaccine on live television alongside his wife Karen and US Surgeon General Jerome Adams.

All three were vaccinated in Washington DC this morning (December 18) by medics from the Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, where the president was treated when he contracted the virus.

Per the Metro, Pence said after the shot: "I didn't feel a thing. Karen and I were more than happy to step out to take this safe and effective coronavirus vaccine that we have produced for the American people."

Pence said at the vaccination that the newly-approved shot will end the pandemic in the US and described it as a "medical miracle".

The vice president, his wife, and Adams all agreed to have the vaccine on TV to help "build confidence" in its effectiveness.

Pfizer's vaccine requires two doses and, the second being administered 21 days after the first. Vice President Pence, his wife, and Adams will all receive their second shot.

New York City ICU nurse Sandra Lindsay the first American to get the vaccine publicly four days ago.

Vice President Pence said that by the end of the month, 20 million doses of the vaccine should be available in the US.

President Trump has not been vaccinated despite being on the list to be one of the first people to receive it, the Metro reports.

Trump has yet to explain the delay, which was announced on Sunday, but earlier this year, he predicted that he would be branded "selfish" if he was one of the first vaccinated.

Adams encouraged other Americans to get the vaccine and hoped that his decision to publically receive it would encourage Black Americans, in particular, to get the vaccine - a group who have been disproportionately affected by Covid-19.

White House immunologist Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has publically fronted the US's response to the pandemic, dispelled any claims that the vaccine may be unsafe because of the speed at which it was produced.

Per CNN, Fauci said: "The speed was a reflection of extraordinary scientific advances and did not compromise safety."

Pfizer and Moderna's vaccines have a 95% effectiveness rate at preventing coronavirus infections.