Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Before leaving the White House as president, Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump chose to be inoculated from the deadly coronavirus, but opted to keep it a secret. Republicans represent the largest group of Americans who say they will not or are unsure if they will get vaccinated.

As head of a very loyal group of supporters, Trump could have gone on national television, as President-elect Joe Biden did, to receive the vaccine, which would have helped convert many opposed to the life-saving shot.

On Monday, the New York Times' Maggie Haberman reported the news that Trump was vaccinated, citing an advisor to the former president.

Some may have noticed that during his Sunday speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Trump in a rare move gave lip service to getting the vaccine, although couching it in an attack against President Biden. He told supporters to "go get your shot."

"Remember, we took care of a lot of people, including, I guess on December 21st, we took care of Joe Biden, because he got his shot," Trump told the CPAC crowd in Orlando at his speech that was widely panned. "He got his vaccine. He forgot. It shows you how unpainful that vaccine shot is. So everybody go get your shot. He forgot. So it wasn't very traumatic, obviously. But he got his shot. And it's good that he got his shot."

Axios reported last week that 41 percent of Republicans say they will not get the coronavirus vaccine. That number jumps to 56 percent when including Republicans who say they are unsure. Just one-third of Republicans (33 percent) say they will get vaccinated. Compare that with 70 percent of Democrats who say they will get vaccinated.

"White Americans are now less likely than Black and Latino Americans to say they plan to get the vaccine," Axios notes.