Washington, December 3: Former US President Barack Obama has said he will get vaccinated against coronavirus (COVID-19) once a vaccine is available. To allay fears and encourage people for vaccination, Barack Obama said he may take the COVID-19 vaccine on television or record the video. "I promise you that when it's been made for people who are less at risk, I will be taking it," he told SiriusXM host Joe Madison. What Barack Obama Wrote About Manmohan Singh, Rahul and Sonia Gandhi in New Book 'A Promised Land'.

"I may end up taking it on TV or having it filmed, just so that people know that I trust this science, and what I don't trust is getting COVID," Obama said. The former President said he will trust Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and America's top infectious disease expert on the safety of a coronavirus vaccine. COVID-19 Vaccine Update: Russian President Vladimir Putin Orders Mass Vaccination of Sputnik V From Next Week, Say Reports.

"People like Anthony Fauci, who I know, and I have worked with, I trust completely," Obama said. "So, if Anthony Fauci tells me this vaccine is safe, and can vaccinate, you know, immunize you from getting Covid, absolutely, I'm going to take it." He acknowledged that people have fears and could be hesitant to get vaccinated once a vaccine is available.

"I understand you know historically -- everything dating back all the way to the Tuskegee experiments and so forth -- why the African American community, would have some scepticism. But the fact of the matter is, is that vaccines are why we don't have polio anymore, the reason why we don't have a whole bunch of kids dying from measles and smallpox and diseases that used to decimate entire populations and communities," he said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 03, 2020 08:57 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).