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In open contradiction to leading government health experts, US President Donald Trump predicted on Wednesday (local time) that a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine could be ready next month and in mass distribution shortly thereafter. , undermining the director of the Centers for Disease. Control and Prevention (CDC) and calling it “confused” by projecting a longer time frame.
Trump also disagreed with Dr. Robert Redfield on the effectiveness of protective masks, which the president recommends but rarely wears, and said he had phoned Redfield to tell him.
Earlier in the day, the CDC sent all 50 states a “playbook” for distributing a vaccine to all Americans at no cost when one is shown to be safe and effective, which is not yet the case.
Redfield told a congressional hearing that healthcare workers, first responders, and others at high risk would get the vaccine first, perhaps in January or even later this year, but it was unlikely that it would be more widely available. , again assuming approval, before late spring or summer.
In recorded conversations with journalist Bob Woodward, Trump says he intentionally downplayed the risks of a pandemic.
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Redfield, sometimes masked in a Senate courtroom, spoke emphatically of the importance of everyone wearing protective masks to stop the pandemic, which has killed nearly 200,000 Americans.
“I could even go so far as to say that this mask is more likely to protect me against Covid than when I take a Covid vaccine.”
Trump, who has strongly recommended throughout the year that restaurants, shops and cities in general “reopen,” said Tuesday that waiters have had a hard time covering their faces and don’t like them.
As for vaccines, Trump said Wednesday: “We think we can start in October.” One of his recently added advisers, Dr. Scott Atlas, said that up to 700 million doses could be available by the end of March.
Andrew Harnik / AP
Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Washington on Wednesday.
Trump made the prediction even though the vaccine is still being tested in humans, and some health experts have said they believe a safe and highly effective vaccine is several months, if not much longer.
The CDC sent a planning document Wednesday to states, territories and some large cities in the US In addition to logistical complications, the vaccines will likely have to be given in two doses spaced weeks apart and will need to be refrigerated.
Redfield said states are unprepared to meet the demand for such distribution and that some $ 6 billion (NZ $ 9 billion) in new funding would be needed to prepare the nation.
Undeterred, Trump said: “We are ready to move, and I think it will be a full distribution.”
Patrick Semansky / AP
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said he trusts scientists, not Trump.
Redfield said that any vaccine available in November or December would have a “very limited supply” and would be reserved for first responders and those most vulnerable to Covid-19.
The injection would not be widely available until spring or summer 2021, he estimated.
The entire vaccine company faces ongoing public skepticism. Only about half of Americans said they would get vaccinated in an Associated Press-NORC poll conducted in May.
Since then, questions have only grown about whether the administration is trying to speed up treatments and vaccines to help Trump’s reelection chances.
J. Scott Applewhite / AP
Former Trump campaign official Michael Caputo.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Wednesday that political appointee Michael Caputo would be taking leave to “focus on his health and the well-being of his family.”
The news followed revelations that Caputo had attempted to gain editorial control over the CDC’s scientific publications on Covid-19, which he claimed were hurting the Trump administration.
Redfield said the “scientific integrity” of his agency’s reports “has not been compromised and will not be compromised under my supervision.”
He also dismissed questions about whether the CDC’s schedule for states to be ready for a vaccine by November 1 was politically motivated.
“The worst that could happen is if we get a vaccine and we’re not ready to distribute it yet,” Redfield told Senate lawmakers. “There was absolutely no political thinking about it.”
Jacquelyn Martin / AP
United States Food and Drug Administration building on the agency’s Maryland campus.
Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the committee’s top Democrat, said HHS’s political interference had damaged the public’s trust in government health information.
“The Trump administration must leave the science to the scientists immediately,” Murray said.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said during the campaign that he trusts what scientists say about a possible vaccine, but not Trump.
Biden has said that he would take a vaccine “tomorrow” if it were available, but would first want to “see what the scientists said.”
As for the planned vaccine campaign, Redfield said his agency will work with state health officials to implement preparations in the coming days.
Evan Vucci / AP
Trump recommends protective masks, but he hardly ever wears them.
Among the highlights of the plan:
- For most vaccines, people will need two doses, 21 to 28 days apart. Dual-dose vaccines must come from the same drug manufacturer. There could be several vaccines from different manufacturers approved and available.
- Vaccination of the American population will not be a sprint but a marathon. Initially, there may be a limited supply of vaccines and the focus will be on protecting healthcare workers, other essential employees, and people in vulnerable groups. A second and third phase would extend vaccination to the entire population.
- The vaccine itself will be free, thanks to billions of dollars in taxpayer funds approved by Congress and allocated by the Trump administration. The goal is for patients not to be charged separately for administering their vaccines, and officials say they are working to ensure that is the case for all Medicare beneficiaries and the uninsured, as well as those covered by insurance at their jobs.
- States and local communities will need to design precise plans to receive and distribute vaccines locally, some of which will require special handling, such as refrigeration or freezing. States and cities have one month to submit plans.
- It will take a massive information technology effort to track who gets what vaccines and when, and the key challenge is getting multiple public and private databases to link to each other.
Some of the general components of the federal plan have already been discussed, but Wednesday’s reports attempt to put the key details into a comprehensive framework.
The distribution is done under the umbrella of Operation Warp Speed, an initiative backed by the White House to have vaccines ready to ship within 24 hours from the moment the Food and Drug Administration approves a version for emergency use.
