Covid 19 Coronavirus: Donald Trump Praises ‘Medical Miracle’ As US Approves Use Of Pfizer Vaccine

The United States has given the final go-ahead to the country’s first Covid-19 vaccine, marking what could be the beginning of the end of an outbreak that has killed nearly 300,000 Americans, according to a person familiar with the decision who asked to remain. in anonymity. .

Vaccines for healthcare workers and nursing home residents are expected to begin in the coming days after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared an emergency release of what it promises on Friday (Saturday NZT). be a strongly protective vaccine from Pfizer and its German partner. BioNTech.

Shortly after the announcement, US President Donald Trump posted a video on Twitter praising the advance.

“Today, our nation accomplished a medical miracle,” Trump said. “We have delivered a safe and effective vaccine in just nine months. This is one of the greatest scientific achievements in history.”

Earlier on Friday, Trump expressed frustration at the time the FDA issued the authorization.

In a Twitter post, Trump called the FDA a “big, old, slow turtle” and ordered its head to “take prey. [sic] vaccines available now. “

A few hours later, The Washington Post reported that Trump’s White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows had told FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn to submit his resignation if the agency did not issue authorization by the end of the day.

Hahn denied the newspaper reports.

Initial doses of the Pfizer vaccine are scarce and rationed as the United States joins Britain and several other countries in the fight to vaccinate as many people as possible ahead of a long and bleak winter.

It will take months of work to control the coronavirus that has exploded to catastrophic levels in recent weeks and has already claimed 1.5 million lives worldwide.

The FDA clearance sets off what will be the largest vaccination campaign in US history, but it also has global ramifications because it is a role model for many other countries facing the same decision.

The world desperately needs multiple vaccines to make enough, and the Pfizer-BioNTech injection is the first rigorous science-based injection to emerge from that global race – a record-setting scientific achievement that cut years off the usual process.

“I don’t think I would have found a scientist on this planet who would have predicted this 11 months ago,” said Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia who advises the FDA.

The United States is considering a second vaccine, made by Moderna, which could be launched in another week. In early January, Johnson & Johnson hopes to find out if its vaccine is working in final tests.

Europe is ready to make its own decision on the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna takeovers later this month.

China and Russia did not wait for end-stage testing before starting vaccines with some homegrown injections.

Putting guns to arms is the big challenge in the US, especially since a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that only half of Americans want the vaccine when it’s their turn. About a quarter say they won’t get it and the rest aren’t sure.