President Donald Trump said at the White House on Friday that the administration expects to have a sufficient coronavirus vaccine for the entire country by April – although no company has yet announced that it has a vaccine that has withstood clinical trials.
Trump’s comment comes after he said earlier this week that there might be a vaccine available “in a matter of weeks.”
On Friday, use a different scale: When there is enough vaccine widely available to offer to the nation.
At the White House, the President said: “There will be hundreds of millions of doses available every month, and we expect to have enough vaccines for every American by April.”
“Hundreds of millions of doses will be available every month, and we expect to have enough vaccines for every American by April,” President Donald Trump told a news conference Friday.
“In a short time, we will have a safe and effective vaccine and we will overcome the virus,” he said.
Critics have accused Trump of seeking to politicize the virus, with repeated claims that someone might be available before the election.
“They all look very good,” Trump said of the three main types being tested.
Trump said that the vaccine would not only save millions of lives, but also “would put an end to the restrictions and some dangerous things that must continue in the meantime.”
Trump’s advisor, Dr. Scott Atlas, also noted the progress and said there would be 100 million doses by the end of the year
On Friday, Trump used the vaccine as a club to attack Democratic rival Joe Biden.
He accused Biden of being “anti-vaccinators”, although Biden said he wanted to listen to government scientists and would accept him if infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci agreed.
“Joe Biden’s anti-vaccine theories put a lot of lives at risk,” he said.
And they do so for political reasons only. Trump said of Democrats: “ Trying to discredit the vaccine now that they know we have it, we’ll announce it fairly soon. ”
He called it “historical progress” and said, “There has never been anything like this in our history, unprecedented in history, in world history.”
I trust Dr. Fauci. If Fauci says the vaccine is safe, I will take it. We should listen to the scientists, not the president, ”Biden said in CNN City Hall Thursday.
Dr. Scott Atlas, who has been an advisor to Trump, joined him and said there would be 100 million doses by the end of the year.
Coronavirus task force members, such as Fauci and Dr. Robert Redfield from the CDC, were not present.
Trump’s allegations came a day after he feuded with his administration over the director of the CDC, Redfield, over when a vaccine would be widely available.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows portrayed the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as being out of the loop in the wake of Redfield saying that coronavirus vaccines will not be readily available until mid-2021.
“I’m not saying it’s not part of the process, I’m saying it’s not the closest to the decision-making process regarding the three clinical trials and their distribution,” Meadows told reporters outside the White House on Thursday.
Meadows was echoing comments Trump made at the press conference on Wednesday, as the president retracted two audio clips that came from Redfield testimony earlier in the day to a Senate committee.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told reporters Thursday morning that the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Robert Redfield, was “ not the closest to making a decision ” when it came to the schedule for distributing the COVID-19 vaccine.
President Donald Trump contradicted the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the press conference on Wednesday, describing Dr. Robert Redfield as “confused” and “mistaken” for saying that vaccines will not be widely available until halfway through 2021 and masks work better than vaccines .
Dr. Robert Redfield testified Wednesday morning before a Senate committee and said, “A face mask is more guaranteed to protect me from COVID than a COVID vaccine.” He also said that the COVID-19 vaccine will not be widely available until the second or third quarter of 2021
Trump said that the head of the CDC was “ confused ” and “ made a mistake ” when telling lawmakers that most Americans would not get a COVID-19 vaccine until the “ second or third quarter ” of 2021 – that is, a whole year later. from now on.
The president also said that Redfield must have “misunderstood” the question about masks.
Redfield raised his mask while testifying and said: “ I might go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me from COVID than to take the COVID vaccine. ”
No, the mask is not more important than the vaccine, Trump told reporters.
Meadows agreed with Trump on that, too.
“ If masks really were the answer where everyone could go back to work, and they really work as the best protocol to keep people safe, I think everyone would be more than happy to put on their masks and get back to work, ” Meadows said. Journalism. I don’t think science supports that. I think it is an extra precaution which is fine, but it does not necessarily guarantee that you will not catch COVID.
Comments made by the president at the briefing prompted a Redfield spokesperson to release a statement saying that the CDC chief was “answering a question he believed was related to the period of time in which all Americans would have completed their coronavirus vaccination.”
“ He was not referring to the time period during which the COVID-19 vaccine doses will be available to all Americans, ” the spokesman said.
Redfield was also quoted as saying about a coronavirus vaccine following the briefing.
I think 100 percent In the importance of vaccines and the importance of the COVID-19 vaccine in particular. Redfield said the COVID-19 vaccine is the thing that will restore Americans to their normal daily lives.
“ Our best defense currently against this virus is the important mitigation efforts of wearing a mask, washing your hands, social distancing and being alert about crowds, ” he added.
Meadows suggested that Redfield was not fully aware of the vaccine process because the trials were being conducted by private companies.
The White House chief of staff also slightly underestimated the proxy.
“Overall, speed of development and speed of distribution is not the CDC’s strong suit, and we’ve seen that going back to the early days of the testing system that was introduced,” Meadows said.
Then the promoter doubled in the president’s brief schedule.
“I can tell you that the president is pressing hard to make sure we offer a vaccine before the end of the year,” he said. “I’m not sure where Dr. Redfield got his own schedule, but he doesn’t rely on those closest to the operation.”
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