News recently broke from the drug company Pfizer that a coronavirus vaccine may be authorized by the end of November. President Trump is claiming that the Food and Drug Administration and the Democrats have intentionally delayed releasing news on the vaccine in an effort to hurt his re-election chances.
Trump tweeted, “The FDA and the Democrats didn’t want to have me get a Vaccine WIN, prior to the election, so instead it came out fave days later- As I’ve said all along!”
The @US_FDA and the Democrats didn’t want to have me get a Vaccine WIN, prior to the election, so instead it came out five days later – As I’ve said all along!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 10, 2020
The drug company has released early results of the COVID-19 vaccine with promising results. According to data, the vaccine has shown it to be 90% effective in inoculating the virus.
The Daily Wire reported:
The announcement was touted by the Trump administration as a success for Operation Warp Speed, the administration’s plan to greatly accelerate the production of a coronavirus vaccine. Kathrin Jansen, a senior vice president and the head of vaccine research and development at Pfizer, had initially denied that the company had ever taken part in the Trump administration initiative.
“We were never part of the Warp Speed,” Jansen told The New York Times. “We have never taken any money from the U.S. government, or from anyone.”
Pfizer later walked back Jansen’s comment, claiming that the Times took her comments out of context and that the pharmaceutical company participated in Operation Warp Speed. Pfizer had put out a press release back in July announcing as much.
“Pfizer is proud to be one of various vaccine manufacturers participating in Operation Warp Speed as a supplier of a potential COVID-19 vaccine. While Pfizer did reach an advanced purchase agreement with the U.S. government, the company did not accept BARDA funding for the research and development process,” the company said in a statement. “All the investment for R&D and manufacturing has been made by Pfizer at risk. Dr. Jansen’s comment, which was taken out of context, was just emphasizing that last point.”
The vaccine likely won’t be widely distributed for many months once it’s released because drug manufacturers will be working to produce enough doses. The first to receive the vaccine will be the most vulnerable populations which have been affected by the virus.
