Trump reversed a plan to prioritize White House staff to get the coronavirus vaccine sooner

• President Donald Trump said he was halting his own administration's plan to make White House staffers among the first people in the country to get a coronavirus vaccine.
• He tweeted on Sunday that staffers, including himself, should get the vaccine "somewhat later."
• The New York Times reported that aides had wanted to swiftly vaccinate those who work close to Trump to avoid more White House illnesses before Trump's presidency ends.

President Donald Trump intervened to stop White House staff members from being among the first people in the US to get the coronavirus vaccine.

He axed a plan for members of his administration to be among the first to be given Pfizer's newly approved vaccine, The New York Times reported on Monday.

Trump tweeted on Sunday that White House staffers should get the vaccine "somewhat later" and that he wasn't yet scheduled to get it.

—Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2020

"People working in the White House should receive the vaccine somewhat later in the program, unless specifically necessary. I have asked that this adjustment be made," he said.

"I am not scheduled to take the vaccine, but look forward to doing so at the appropriate time. Thank you!"

Two sources told The Times that White House staffers who work closely with Trump had been told they were due to get the vaccine soon.

The Times also noted that it wasn't clear why Trump changed the strategy.

The Times reported that the goal of the plan - in which all staffers would eventually get the vaccine - was to avoid more people in the White House falling ill before Trump's presidency ends in January.

The White House has had multiple coronavirus outbreaks. Trump was hospitalized with the virus in October, and he got several experimental treatments that the average patient likely wouldn't have had access to.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that healthcare workers and nursing-home residents be prioritized to get the vaccine. Each state can decide how it distributes the vaccines it gets from the federal government.

As Business Insider's Kelsey Vlamis reported, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration said on Sunday that the US's first COVID-19 vaccinations could be administered as early as Monday.

Pfizer's vaccine, developed with the German firm BioNTech, on Friday became the first COVID-19 vaccine authorized for use in the US.

More than 16 million people have been infected with the coronavirus in the US, and more than 299,000 people have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.