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The president of the United States is pressuring him; ideally before the November elections you want to present a corona vaccine. But experts fear a disaster similar to the so-called miracle drug hydroxychloroquine.
By Julia Kastein, ARD Studio Washington
Friday afternoon in the Oval Office: US President Donald Trump is sitting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti. It’s about improving relationships. In response to a journalist’s question, Trump is very quick on one of his favorite topics: a Covid-19 vaccine.
“I think the vaccines will be announced very soon,” Trump said. He had just called the director of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer and was also in constant contact with Johnson & Johnson and Moderna. All three US companies have a potential vaccine in the final and crucial phase of clinical trials.
Trump exerts pressure on authorities
At an evening press conference, Trump gets more specific: It could be that time sometime in October. The president is pushing and his highest authority on disease, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), is jumping. This week, the CDC urged health officials across the country to make urgent plans to distribute a vaccine. Until October 1st. That is the earliest possible date for a vaccine to be released.
A vaccine in a month? America’s top virologist, Anthony Fauci, a member of the presidential pandemic task force, is skeptical: “It is unlikely, but not impossible. Most assume it will be November or December.”
Fast shot like with hydroxychloroquine?
Health experts fear: The White House could force the FDA to grant an emergency approval for a vaccine before studies are completed. Amy Compton-Phillips, medical director of the Providence hospital group, says on CNN: “People here are very concerned that the process is being undermined, for political reasons.”
The concern seems justified: In the spring, Trump warmly recommended the rheumatism drug hydroxychloroquine as an agent against Covid-19. The FDA first granted emergency approval, only to withdraw it shortly thereafter. And instead warn against therapy. The FDA has now also granted an exception for convalescent antibody plasma treatment, although here too experts doubt the effectiveness.
When it comes to the vaccine, politics will not play a role, promises CNN chief of authorities Stephen Hahn. But also clarify the pressure you are under. When asked if he would resign if necessary, Hahn said: “All options are on the table. But we don’t expect it to come to that.”
Skeptical about the vaccine
Noted virologist Fauci is trying to take on the concerns of Americans that when it comes to vaccines, the date of the election may play a bigger role than science. According to a survey, almost 80 percent of the population fear that. “I guess and I also assume that no vaccine that is not safe and effective will be approved.”
And even the director of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, Albert Bourla, promises that approval will only be requested if the company is convinced that the vaccine is safe and effective. But he also expects the corresponding results from October.
The Trump administration has already pre-ordered vaccines from various manufacturers around the world for five billion dollars, more than 600 million doses. The army will be called in for delivery. And Trump already boasts: Every pharmaceutical chief would have told him: If he were a typical president, such approvals would take two or three years. “But if we get away with it, then they are on the verge of big news.”
