US President Donald Trump on Tuesday held a COVID-19 vaccine summit at the White House to celebrate the potential regulatory approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for emergency use in the US in the coming days, and his government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic through ‘Operation Warp Speed’. The administration is reportedly seeking to lower public scepticism over the vaccine and secure a key component of the president’s legacy, as he begrudgingly prepares to leave office next month.
During his address to a gathering consisting of public health experts, business leaders, and state legislators, President Trump praised his administration’s efforts at fast-tracking COVID-19 vaccines, saying that vaccine development was a “monumental national achievement” that would “end the pandemic” and save millions of lives across the world.
However, some important attendees were missing. No officials from President-elect Joe Biden’s team were invited, even though they will be the ones to implement and oversee the bulk of the country’s immunization program. When asked about it, Trump continued to push false information, saying that a clear winner of the 2020 presidential election had not yet emerged.
“We’re going to have to see who the next administration is because we won in those swing states,” Trump said. The president and his aides have engaged in a forceful campaign questioning the legitimacy of the election, baselessly claiming voter fraud and attempting to block states from declaring Biden as the winner of the race. Though several states have such lawsuits brought forward by Trump’s associates, the president has remained defiant and on Tuesday again called on state legislatures and courts to “have the courage to do what everybody in this country knows is right,” falsely accusing Biden of winning a rigged vote.
Additionally, executives from Pfizer and Moderna were also absent from the event, after reportedly declining their invitations. The Trump administration has openly feuded with Pfizer in recent weeks over its involvement in Operation Warp Speed and has now come under scrutiny for failing to secure 100 million additional doses of the vaccine as part of a proposed $1.95bn deal over the summer. Reports suggest that the US never took the deal, a decision that could delay the delivery of a second batch of dozes until the drug maker fulfills its other international obligations. However, Trump tried to soften the blow from the move by signing an executive on Tuesday, prioritising the shipment of the vaccine to Americans before other nations.
“Every American who wants the vaccine will be able to get the vaccine and we think by spring we’re going to be in a position nobody would have believed possible just a few months ago,” Trump said. “They say it’s somewhat of a miracle and I think that’s true,” he added.
Trump’s event coincided with one from Biden, who unveiled his COVID-19 priorities for the first 100 days of his administration, and named top members of his health team. He said that masking, vaccinations (100 million shots in 100 days), and reopening school would be his key objectives, and called on Congress to help implement his goals through adequate funding, without which he said the efforts would “slow and stall.”
For his public health team, Biden announced that he had chosen California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to head the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Dr. Rochelle Walensky, a leading expert on virus testing, prevention, and treatment, to serve as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The president-elect also introduced Dr. Vivek Murthy as his pick for surgeon general and former National Economic Council director Jeff Zients as coordinator of the COVID-19 response. Dr. Anthony Fauci will be taking on the role of chief medical advisor.
Trump Hosts COVID-19 Vaccine Summit at the White House
Meanwhile, Biden laid out his COVID-19 priorities for the first 100 days of his administration and named top members of his health team.
December 9, 2020
SOURCE: FORTUNE