U.S. Senator Charles Grassley (R) says he compliments the foresight of President Donald Trump initiating the development of a COVID-19 vaccine, as distribution of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine has begun across the country this week.

Sen. Grassley says it was the private-public partnership of Operation Warp Speed that helped facilitate the development and approval of a vaccine in a matter of months rather than years, “In New York today it’s reported that a nurse was the first one to get the vaccination in the United States. In Iowa, I’m told that the first to get it was somebody in Iowa City, probably a healthcare worker because they have top priority, they and the nursing homes. And [I’m] just glad that it looks like the whole thing is coming along pretty smoothly. I suppose some places in the United States there might be a hitch but everything I’ve heard so far is pretty positive.”

Grassley hopes this distribution will continue for several months until possibly 75% of the U.S. population is vaccinated and life can get “back to normal.” States will determine allocation of their share of vaccines, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that frontline health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities receive it first. You can hear more from Grassley in today’s Halcyon House Washington Page on air and at kciiradio.com.