Former President Donald Trump is continuing to advocate for COVID-19 vaccination.
In an interview with conservative commentator Candace Owens, Trump called the COVID-19 vaccines "one of the greatest achievements of mankind" after he revealed earlier this week he received his booster dose. Owens suggested the fact that "more people have died" since the vaccines became widely available might call their effectiveness into question, but Trump rejected this notion.
"No, the vaccine worked," he said. "But some people aren't taking it. The ones that get very sick and go to the hospital are the ones that don't take their vaccine."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Trump went on to say that "if you take the vaccine, you're protected," and "if you do" still get COVID-19 while vaccinated, "it's a very minor form" of it. He added, "People aren't dying when they take their vaccine."
The comments came after Trump said at an event with former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly that he received his COVID-19 booster dose. This prompted some boos from the crowd, but Trump told his supporters they should "take credit" for the vaccines and that by being against vaccines, "you're playing right into their hands." While in office, Trump declined to get vaccinated in public like then-Vice President Mike Pence did, and it was only revealed that Trump received his vaccine at the White House nearly two months later.
President Biden during a speech earlier this week praised Trump for his comments about getting a booster dose, saying this "may be one of the few things he and I agree on," and he also thanked the efforts of "the prior administration" on vaccines. Trump later told Fox News he was "very appreciative" of Biden's comments. "It has to be a process of healing in this country," Trump said, "and that will help a lot."
-
The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago.
-
‘Never more precarious’: the UN turns 80The Explainer It’s an unhappy birthday for the United Nations, which enters its ninth decade in crisis
-
Trump’s White House ballroom: a threat to the republic?Talking Point Trump be far from the first US president to leave his mark on the Executive Mansion, but to critics his remodel is yet more overreach
-
Trump’s White House ballroom: a threat to the republic?
Talking Point Trump be far from the first US president to leave his mark on the Executive Mansion, but to critics his remodel is yet more overreach
-
‘Not every social scourge is an act of war’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Pentagon unable to name boat strike casualtiesSpeed Read The Pentagon has so far acknowledged 14 strikes
-
41 political cartoons for October 2025Cartoons Editorial cartoonists take on Donald Trump, ICE, Stephen Miller, the government shutdown, a peace plan in the Middle East, Jeffrey Epstein, and more.
-
Trump limits refugees mostly to white South AfricansSpeed Read The administration is capping the number of refugees at 7,500
-
Judge rules US attorney ‘unlawfully serving’Speed Read Bill Essayli had been serving in the role without Senate confirmation
-
Trump ends Asia trip with Xi meeting, nuke threatSpeed Read Trump had spent the last six days in Asia
-
What does history say about Trump’s moves in Latin America?Today's Big Question ‘Bitter memories’ surface as the US targets Venezuela
