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President Donald Trump today praised progress in the race for a vaccine for the coronavirus resurgence when he made his first public comments since his defeat to President-elect Joe Biden, even as he refuses to grant the election.
Donald Trump in his first public speech since his electoral defeat. Source: Associated Press
Trump spoke from the Rose Garden as the nation sets records for confirmed Covid-19 cases, and as hospitalizations near critical levels and deaths rise to the highest levels since spring.
He said a vaccine would be shipped in “a matter of weeks” to vulnerable populations, although the Food and Drug Administration has not yet been asked to grant the necessary emergency approvals.
Also, there is no information yet on whether the vaccine worked in vulnerable populations or only in younger, healthier study volunteers.
Public health experts worry that Trump’s refusal to take aggressive action on the pandemic or coordinate with Biden’s team during the last two months of his presidency will only worsen the effects of the virus and hamper the nation’s ability to distribute. quickly a vaccine next year.
And as cases reach new heights, Trump’s campaign prediction that the US was “turning around” the pandemic has faced a stark reality, with his own White House becoming the focus. from another outbreak.
Trump’s aggressive travel despite the virus has also affected his protectors. The US Secret Service is experiencing a significant number of cases, many of which are believed to be related to its rallies in the final days of the campaign, according to an official.
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Trump “hasn’t even gotten to that point yet” when it comes to giving in to Biden.
Trump has made unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voter fraud, even as his own administration has said there is no evidence to support the claims. His aides suggest that he is simply trying to keep his fan base on his side in defeat.
Trump spoke to conservative media today, including Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera, and suggested that he would acknowledge the loss only after exhausting his legal options.
“You know, he told me it was realistic,” Rivera said. “He told me he would do the right thing.”
With more than 100,000 new confirmed cases in the US reported daily for more than a week, Trump has become more focused on tracking the launch of a vaccine, which will not be widely available for months.
It’s enraged that Pfizer intentionally withheld an announcement about the progress of its vaccine test until after Election Day, according to a White House official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Pfizer said it did not deliberately withhold the trial results.
Trump, aiming to settle political scores, said he would not send vaccines to New York until Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo approves them, noting that the state has promised to do its own review to ensure their safety.
“The governor will let us know when he’s ready,” Trump said.
Although the president has consistently downplayed the pandemic, which has killed more than 240,000 Americans and infected more than 10 million people in the US, public health experts raised concerns about Trump’s silence on the troubling increase. in cases, as well as their refusal to start. coordinating virus issues with Biden’s transition team.
“It’s a big problem,” said Dr. Abraar Karan, a global health specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
“The transition is not going to happen until January, and we are in a complete crisis right now. We already know where this is going. … It is not enough to say that we are going to wait until the next president addresses this.”
Trump has not answered questions since before Election Day. That hasn’t stopped his Twitter habit, but he’s used it almost exclusively in recent days to rage against election results and spread unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud.
By late Thursday afternoon, Trump had tweeted or retweeted more than three dozen times that day. Only one was related to the virus: a retweet of a post by Senator David Perdue about Georgia receiving 2,000 vials of a new antibody treatment.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows tested positive last week after attending an election night party at the White House. Others in the party also tested positive, including White House political director Brian Jack, former White House aide Healy Baumgardner, and Trump campaign advisers David Bossie and Corey Lewandowski.
Lewandowski said yesterday that he believes he contracted the virus in Philadelphia while attending the president’s election challenge there.
Biden, for his part, largely framed the election as a referendum on Trump’s handling of the pandemic. You have made addressing the virus your top priority as you move forward with your transition.
He spoke by phone yesterday with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer about the escalation of the pandemic and the prospects for passing a Covid-19 relief bill in the session of Congress.
Incoming White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said Biden will appoint a “COVID coordinator” who will lead the administration’s response to the pandemic.
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The president-elect of the United States says Trump is not helping his legacy. Source: Associated Press
Klain, speaking on MSNBC yesterday, said the individual will have “direct access” to the president and will brief him on the pandemic daily. A team of people under the coordinator will oversee vaccine distribution, address supply chain disruptions, and improve access to testing.
Lawrence Gostin, a public health expert at Georgetown University School of Law, said Biden will only be able to “scratch the surface” to tackle a pandemic that could be a “raging wildfire” when he takes office on January 20. .
He added that even the good news about Pfizer developing a vaccine that showed 90 percent efficacy in early trial results could be lessened if Trump doesn’t begin coordinating efforts with Biden’s team on how to implement. the vaccine.
Some public health experts believe that the task of persuading Americans to take the vaccine and distribute it widely could be just as complicated as developing the vaccine.
“I am afraid that the next three months could be the worst we have faced during the pandemic,” Gostin said.
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President Trump spent the day playing golf in Virginia and has refused to give in to Joe Biden. Source: AAP
“America is like a ship in a storm, and the captain has decided to go play golf.”
