Donald Trump tells his fans to get COVID-19 jabs

The former president makes his most explicit endorsement for the national mass vaccination campaign since he left office in January.

‘I would recommend it’: Donald Trump. Picture: AFP

Former president Donald Trump on Wednesday AEDT encouraged his Republican supporters — one of the main groups resistant to COVID-19 vaccines — to get their shots.

“I would recommend it,” Mr Trump told Fox News.

“I would recommend it to a lot of people that don’t want to get it and a lot of those people voted for me, frankly. It’s a great vaccine, it’s a safe vaccine and it’s something that works.”

This was Mr Trump’s most explicit endorsement for the national mass vaccination campaign since he left office in January.

All other living former presidents, including Democrat Barack Obama and Republican George W. Bush, have delivered high-profile public service announcements. But Mr Trump has largely been silent while the man who defeated him, Joe Biden, masterminds the vaccine rollout.

Polls show that Republican men, who are overwhelmingly supporters of Mr Trump and his “Make America Great Again” or MAGA platform, are the leading vaccine skeptics.

Mr Trump spoke a day after the White House suggested he shouldn’t be waiting for an “engraved invitation” to join the public campaign encouraging Americans to take COVID-19 vaccines.

AFP