In this Jan. 20, 2021, file photo former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura and former President Bill Clinton and his wife former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stand at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery during Inauguration Day ceremonies in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
By Zeke Miller
Four former presidents are urging Americans to get vaccinated as soon as COVID-19 doses are available to them, as part of a campaign to overcome hesitancy about the shots.
Two public service announcements from the Ad Council and the business-supported COVID Collaborative feature Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter as well as first ladies Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton, and Rosalynn Carter. All of them have received doses of the COVID-19 vaccines.
In a 60-second spot, the former presidents say what they're most looking forward to once the pandemic ends.
Clinton, 74, says he wants to “go back to work and I want to be able to move around." Obama, 59, says he wants to be able to visit with his mother-in-law, “to hug her, and see her on her birthday.” Bush, 74, talks about “going to opening day in Texas Rangers stadium with a full stadium.”
Carter, 96, says he got vaccinated to help end the pandemic “as soon as possible.”
The video features photos of the former presidents and their spouses with syringes in their upper arms as they urge Americans to “roll up your sleeve and do your part” by getting vaccinated.
A separate 30-second ad was filmed hours after President Joe Biden's inauguration at Arlington National Cemetery. It features Bush, Obama and Clinton encouraging vaccinations.
“The science is clear,” Bush says. “These vaccines will protect you and those you love from this dangerous and deadly disease.” Obama calls them, the “first step to ending the pandemic and moving our country forward.”
Former President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, do not appear in the campaign. Trump was still in office when the ex-presidents' project began in December, according to the Ad Council, and he did not attend President Joe Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20, when Obama, Bush and Clinton gathered together in person to film. A Trump adviser revealed last week that the Trumps were vaccinated in private before leaving the White House on Inauguration Day.
The ad campaign comes as U.S. supply of the coronavirus vaccines continues to ramp up and as public health experts worry that some Americans may choose not to get vaccinated, which would slow the country's path toward “herd immunity" to the virus.
The “It's Up to You” campaign encourages Americans to visit www.GetVaccineAnswers.org to get the facts about the vaccines.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also involved in the education initiative.
___
Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.
The Cowboy State has become one of the world's top tax havens, according to the Pandora Papers, a trove of more than 11.9 million documents obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and The Washington Post. The papers reveal, among other things, how ultra-wealthy people from around the world move money into the U.S., invest, and spend it under a shroud of secrecy. Allison Tait, University of Richmond law professor, joined Cheddar to talk about Wyoming's laidback tax laws, their impact on the nation's economy, and provided some details on the financial arrangement known as the "cowboy cocktail."
Carlo and Baker preview President Biden's address to the nation as Omicron becomes the new dominant Covid strain. Plus, Trump gets booed for getting his booster and the White House gets a new puppy.
China and Russia are saying they want to work closer together in different areas after a recent call between Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. What are the implications of a close partnership between Beijing and Moscow? Cheddar News breaks things down with expert Hagar Chemali.
Michele Schneider, Partner and Director of Trading Research & Education for MarketGauge.com, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where she says the spread of the Omicron variant and Jerome Powell's comments following the latest Fed decision are spooking investors heading into the weekend.
Carlo and Baker wrap up another week discussing the latest explosion in new Covid cases in the Northeast, President Biden's stalled agenda and more. Plus, Love, Hate, Ate featuring the question: why did movie dialogue get so hard to understand?
Since July 2021, families with children have received monthly payments from the federal government as part of the expanded child tax credit, a policy that may be expiring this month. Megan Curran, policy director at the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University, joined Cheddar News to discuss.
During the pandemic, student loan debt repayment was put on pause amid an unprecedented crisis. However, on February 1, 2022, the schedule is set to resume, and currently it looks as though the Biden administration has no plans to extend it. Cody Hounanian, the executive director of the Student Debt Crisis Center, spoke to Cheddar about why he believes the loan collection pause needs to at least be extended as borrowers are still struggling with the resurgent pandemic and inflation. "There's really no good economic or policy or political reason as far as why they're focused on getting payments started now," Hounanian said. "We surveyed 33,000 people with student loans last month. Nine out of 10 told us that they are not ready to resume payments."
As the 2022 midterm elections fast approach, here are some politicians Americans should be on the lookout for. Democratic Massachusetts state senator Sonia Chang-Diaz, who was the first Latina and Asian American woman to be elected to the state's senate, now has her eye on the governorship with Republican Charlie Baker leaving. New Jersey GOP candidate for Congress, Billy Prempeh also bears watching, and while Boston's newest mayor, Democrat Michelle Wu, was already sworn in last month, all eyes will be on Beantown as the first woman and first person of color to hold the office tries to usher in a new era for the city.
