– A regrettable statement – VG

“In the last nine months, my administration has launched the largest operation to develop vaccines in record time,” President Trump said in front of the White House.

– Operation Warp Speed ​​is unmatched in the world, and world leaders have called to congratulate me. I want to congratulate everyone for this.

Operation Warp Speed ​​is a collaboration between various US health authorities and private companies to develop vaccines and treatments for COVID-19.

– As part of Operation Warp Speed, Pfizer says its vaccine is 90 percent effective against the “China virus.”

– Pfizer says they weren’t part of Operation Warp Speed, but they are. That was an unfortunate statement, Trump said.

When the pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced that its vaccine candidate was 90 percent effective, it wasn’t long before Vice President Mike Pence gave President Donald Trump credit for the good results.

– Big news: Thanks to the collaboration between the public and private sectors created by President Donald Trump, Pfizer announces that its coronavirus vaccine is effective and prevents infection among 90 percent of its volunteers, Pence tweeted.

Former US Ambassador to the United Nations Trump, Nikki Haley, also thanked the president.

– (…) Many thanks to President Donald Trump and Operation Warp Speed. This will be one of the most important measures that the administration will take in response to this pandemic, she wrote.

However, the manufacturers did not fully agree that the president and Operation Warp Speed ​​were entitled to take credit for the good vaccine news from Pfizer and BioNTech.

– We were never part of Warp Speed. We have never received money from the United States government, or from anyone else, said Kathrin Jansen, Pfizer physician and director of vaccine development for The New York Times.

Somewhat later, the company itself arrives with a clarification where they say they have reached an agreement on the pre-ordering of vaccine doses, but they repeat that they have not received support for the investigation from the US authorities.

– Pfizer is one of several vaccine manufacturers participating in Operation Warp Speed ​​as a supplier of a potential covid-19 vaccine. Pfizer has entered into a pre-purchase agreement with the US government, but the company has not received BARDA support for research and development.

BARDA stands for Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, and belongs to the American version of the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning.

– All investments in research and development are made by Pfizer, with the associated risk. This is what Jansen pointed out, says in the company statement.

According to CNN, the company has also not received advance payment for the vaccines.

The EU has also entered into agreements to purchase vaccines from Pfizer and BioNTech.

On Wednesday, the European Commission gave its consent to an agreement to buy up to 300 million doses.

– This is a very promising vaccine so far, said the head of the commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

In recent months, the Commission has been working on major agreements with various vaccine manufacturers to ensure supply to member countries when vaccines are approved.

Pfizer and BioNTech announced Thursday that they also reached an agreement to supply Israel with eight million doses of their new corona vaccine next year, according to NTB.

The companies announced the deal in a statement Thursday night. The financial framework of the agreement is not yet known. The agreement depends on the approval of the vaccine for use.

Will give life to the elderly

Like the EU and Deputy Health Director Espen Nakstad, Trump believes vaccines will be available to most people in April.

– Millions of doses are coming out the door. As early as April, vaccines will be available everywhere except New York for political reasons. This is because the governor does not trust vaccines. We won’t deliver them there until approved, which pains me.

According to CNN, the background for this statement is a disagreement over how vaccines should be distributed. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is said to have been very skeptical of the federal government’s plans to distribute the vaccines through private pharmacy chains.

– We cannot deliver it to a state that does not deliver it to its people immediately. “I know the people of New York, I know they want it,” the president said.

During the press conference, Trump also laid out his plans for who will get the shots first.

– We know that this virus attacks the elderly and people with underlying diseases, and by vaccinating them first, we will drastically reduce the number of hospital admissions.

He also said that healthcare workers will be among the first to receive the vaccine, but focused on the elderly.

“We want the elderly to take back the golden years, it’s time for them to take them back,” Trump said.

Not turn off

During the press conference, Trump also highlighted several steps he believes the administration has taken. He also reiterated the claim that the reason the infection rate in the US continues to rise is due to widespread testing and not the high degree of spread of infection.

– We believe that it will begin to drop possibly very quickly, but with the vaccine you will see numbers that will drop in months and will drop quickly, said the president.

When he was going to comment that it was not relevant for his administration to perform a shutdown, he stumbled a bit in his words:

– Ideally, we don’t go down in a shutdown – Yo, this administration won’t go into a shutdown, I hope it will – whatever happens in the future, who knows what administration it will be, I guess time will tell, but I can tell that this administration will not impose closure.

The president left the press conference without answering questions.