Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris have expressed concern about possible interference by President Trump in the production and distribution of the coronavirus vaccine – but that is not a concern shared by the country’s top public health experts.
“We cannot allow politics to interfere with the vaccine in any way,” Biden said Wednesday. “Americans have to deal with President Trump’s incompetence and dishonesty when it comes to testing and personal protective equipment. When a vaccine arrives, we can’t afford to repeat that fiasco. The stakes are too high. ”
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He said, “I believe in vaccines. I believe in scientists. I don’t believe in Trump.”
While both candidates have made it clear that they support the vaccine – even if it is shared by the Trump administration – Trump has also expressed concern about the safety of such a vaccine due to pressure to speed up its production.
On Wednesday, when Biden said he believed in the vaccine, he also raised questions, saying “this administration has to answer to reassure the American people that politics will not play a role in the vaccine process.”
The comments came after public health experts predicted by Harris that “they will be confused, they will be pressured, they will be sidelined” because the election is coming up in less than 60 days, and he can do anything. It’s amazing for her. When they are not, they tend to be at the forefront of the issue. “
When asked if he would be vaccinated before the election, he said: “Well, I think it will be an issue for all of us. I will say I will not trust Donald Trump and he will be on a reliable source of information. The information that he talks about is effective and reliable, I will not take his word for it. “
“I want to see what the scientists said,” Biden said separately in response to a question about whether the Trump administration would take a valid vaccine. “I want full transparency over the vaccine. One of the problems is the way it is played with politics. It says a lot of things that are not true and I’m worried that people will be reluctant to take it if we have a really good vaccine.”
But these concerns have been repeatedly pushed back by some of the country’s top experts and health officials.
The country’s top pathologist Dr. Anthony Fawcett said this month that he was “not worried about political pressure.” On the “Daily Briefing” on Fox News last week, he said he would not be “confused” and noted that the trial had been postponed when the opposite happened.
“The process of trying to prove the safety and effectiveness of a number of vaccines is a sound process,” he said. He said: “I’m convinced that there are boards, data and security monitoring boards out there, committees that advise the FDA on this, so I’m confident things will be done scientifically. “
Last week MSNBC But National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins assured viewers that there would be no “shortcuts” to safety and effectiveness assessments and that there were “multiple levels of oversight” to ensure that nothing was pressured. Meets the highest standards, probably the highest standards that have ever been applied to a vaccine, will be applied in this situation. ”
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Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), was named by his office in a Senate hearing Wednesday with a possible November 1 date for vaccination for governors, along with Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Or. “Deliberately puts it two days before the election.”
Redfield pushed back, saying the date was prepared by subject matter experts and was motivated by concerns that the vaccine would be delivered but officials were unwilling to deliver it.
“You could say there was no political thinking about this [that] By retreating one should think a little more politically, but the political intent was not what it was. “
“I must say I don’t find it inspiring,” Merkel replied. He followed up and asked if there was any contact with the administration attached to the date.
“Certainly not,” Redfield said.
Surgeon General Jerome Adams, meanwhile, told lawmakers last week: “The vaccination process is not politicized. We have a process that I have faith in as a doctor, as a father. “
Meanwhile, Republicans and the Trump campaign have blamed Biden and other Democrats for questioning the vaccination process.
“Democrats like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are endangering American lives by attacking the coronavirus vaccine for political gain,” said Steve Gest, director of the Republican National Committee’s Rapid Response.
Trump on Thursday accused Democrats of being “angry” that the vaccine was being made ahead of schedule. He had earlier called on Biden to stop promoting “antivaxin theories”.
“I trust vaccination scientists, but I don’t trust Donald Trump,” Bide said.
“Democrats are just angry that vaccines and deliveries are far ahead of schedule. They hate what they are seeing. Saving lives should make them happy, not sad! ”He tweeted.
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Biden doubled in his statement at CNN Townhall on Thursday evening that he did not trust Trump over the vaccine, but indicated that he trusted the country’s public health experts.
“I do not trust the president over the vaccine. I trust Dr. Fausi. If Fawcett says the vaccine is safe, I will get the vaccine, ”he said.
