President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have together been chosen as Time's 2020 Person of the Year - beating shortlisted Donald Trump to the crown.

Bruce Springsteen revealed the news during an hour-long TV special last night - the first of its kind after an "unprecedented year".

It also is the first time a President-elect and Vice President-elect have been chosen together.

The four 2020 finalists included President-elect Joe Biden, President Donald Trump, Frontline Health Care Workers and Dr Anthony Fauci, as well as the Movement for Racial Justice.

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The cover of TIME magazine in celebration of the award shows 78-year-old Joe Biden and 56-year-old Kamala Harris with the words "Changing America's story."

TIME magazine wrote of the pair: "[They] offered restoration and renewal in a single ticket. And America bought what they were selling."

It went to on to say that the pair had changed "the American story, for showing that the forces of empathy are greater than the furies of division, for sharing a vision of healing in a grieving world."

It comes after Biden won the presidency and was elected the 46th president of the United States in November, defeating incumbent Donald Trump.

Speaking of the election outcome, Mr Biden said: “This moment was one of those do-or-die moments.

"Had Trump won, I think we would have changed the nature of who we are as a country for a long time.”

Biden added that he hopes people say that "America was better off and average Americans are better off the day we left than the day we arrived. That’s my objective.”

Meanwhile, Harris is the first woman, first Black person and first person of Asian descent to be elected vice president. 

She said: "My mother had many sayings. She would say, ‘'Kamala, you may be the first to do many things; make sure you’re not the last.' Which is why I said, 'I will be the first, but I will not be the last.' And that’s about legacy. That’s about leaving the door more open than it was when you walked in."

Time magazine Editor-in-Chief and CEO Edward Felsenthal said: “The selection of Person of the Year is rarely easy, and this year was far more difficult than most…

"In Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, we have two individuals whose election mirrored and moved the major stories of this year and whose fates will shape the nation’s role in the world and the future of the American experiment."