Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Gets COVID-19 Vaccine in Televised Broadcast

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine during a live broadcast on Friday, according to state media.

Prince Mohammed was administered the vaccine in line with the Saudi Health Ministry's national COVID-19 vaccination plan, a report from the Saudi Press Agency said.

Saudi Arabia's health minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah also received the vaccine on Friday, and applauded Prince Mohammed "for his keenness and ongoing follow-up to provide vaccines to citizens and residents," the report said.

The country received its first shipments of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine earlier this month, and began its vaccination campaign on December 17, according to The Hill.

The health minister referred to the campaign as a "prevention is better than cure" policy, which is "represented by intensifying proactive precautionary measures, emphasizing that human health is first, providing safe and internationally recognized vaccines, in record time, and presenting the vaccines to citizens and residents, alike," the press agency reported.

Saudi Arabia has recorded 361,903 coronavirus cases and 6,168 deaths since the pandemic first began, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University. The country reported 178 new cases and nine new deaths in the past 24 hours.

Prince Mohammed's broadcasted vaccination follows suit with several other political leaders who have been given their first jabs on television. Last week, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received his first dose during a live broadcast.

President-elect Joe Biden received his first dose of the vaccine in front of cameras on Monday, and Vice President Mike Pence said he "didn't feel a thing," after receiving a dose on live television on December 18.

Biden said he was eager to get the vaccination on camera in order raise public trust and awareness of its safety. Vice-president elect Kamala Harris is scheduled to get her first dose in public next week.

"I'm doing this to demonstrate that people should be prepared when it's available to take the vaccine," he said after receiving his shot at a hospital in Wilmington, Delaware.

But President Donald Trump has still not said whether or not he will receive the vaccination before departing from the White House in January.

As of Thursday, more than 1 million Americans have been inoculated, Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a press release.

"While we celebrate this historic milestone, we also acknowledge the challenging path ahead. There is currently a limited supply of COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S., but supply will increase in the weeks and months to come," Redfield said. "The goal is for everyone to be able to easily get vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as large enough quantities are available."

Newsweek reached out to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia for comment.