Domestic animals, such as cats and rabbits, are known to catch the virus and mink, the bedrock of the fur industry, have been culled in their millions due to widespread outbreaks.
President Donald Trump announced late on Sunday evening that White House staffers would receive the vaccine “somewhat later in the program” following reports that they would be among the first to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech jab.
Many officials worried about how fast Russia developed and approved the vaccine, launching it without completing the large-scale clinical trials needed to prove safety and efficacy.
Many people are hesitant to take the new vaccines, which have been developed at record-breaking speed and, in some cases, with a previously unused technology.