Ian McKellen, Prue Leith, AOC, and More Celebs Have Gotten a COVID-19 Vaccine

As the Pfizer-BioNTech and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are rolling out across the United States, celebrities have been getting their COVID vaccine in the U.S. and abroad — and many of them seniors, doctors, and politicians.

Ian McKellen was one of those famous folk getting inoculated. “You’re having it not just for yourself but for people who you are close to,” he told his followers, giving a thumbs-up in his photo. “You’re doing your bit for society.”

Here are Ian and other celebs who’ve gotten the vaccine so far…

The Lord of the Rings and X-Men actor felt “euphoric” after getting vaccinated at Queen Mary’s University Hospital in London on Wednesday, Dec. 16.

“Anyone who has lived as long as I have is alive because they have had previous vaccinations,” he added per BBC News. “I would have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone.”

The Great British Bake Off judge shared a photo of herself getting her vaccine shot on Twitter on Tuesday, Dec. 15. “Who wouldn’t want immunity from #Covid19 with a painless jab?” she tweeted.

The filmmaker behind Platoon and JFK told Russia’s Channel One state broadcaster that he received the Russian COVID-19 vaccine in a clip the Associated Press published on Tuesday, Dec. 16. “It’s a very good vaccine,” he told his Channel One interviewer. “I don’t understand why it’s being ignored in the West.”

The neurosurgeon, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, got his vaccine live on air at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Ga., on Friday, Dec. 18. (“I, by the way, as a surgeon, am also a little bit afraid of needles,” he admitted.)

The President-elect will receive the COVID-19 vaccine as early as the week of Dec. 21, as two transition officials told the Associated Press. “I don’t want to get ahead of the line, but I want to make sure we demonstrate to the American people that it is safe to take,” he said on Tuesday, Dec. 15.

Both the departing Vice President and his wife, Karen Pence, got doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on camera in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Dec. 18.

“Today, with confidence in science and at the direction of the Office of the Attending Physician, I received the COVID-19 vaccine,” the Speaker of the House wrote on Instagram on Friday, Dec. 18, alongside a photo of herself getting the vaccine. “As the vaccine is being distributed, we must all continue mask wearing, social distancing, and other science-based steps to save lives and crush the virus.”

The Democratic U.S. Representative from New York — dubbed AOC — shared footage of her vaccination process on Instagram on Saturday, Dec. 19, and answered questions about the vaccine from Instagram followers. “I would never, ever ask you to do something I wasn’t willing to do myself,” she added in her caption.

This Democratic senator from Massachusetts and former presidential candidate said she received the first of two shots of the COVID-19 vaccine on Saturday, Dec. 19. “The vaccine is a testament to all we can achieve when we listen to scientists, follow the advice of public health experts, and come together as a country,” she added.

“Grateful for the months of hard work from the medical community, government partners, and others who are working around the clock to deliver a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine to the American people,” the Republican senator from Utah wrote on Friday, Dec. 18, as he uploaded an Instagram photo of himself getting a vaccine shot.

On Saturday, Dec. 19, this Republican senator from Florida shared an Instagram pic of him receiving the vaccine. “Yes, I looked away from the needle,” he wrote, captioning the upload. “And yes, I realize I need a tan. But I am so sure the COVID vaccine is safe that I decided to take it myself.”