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President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at the White House, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo / Evan Vucci)
WASHINGTON – In open contradiction to top government health experts, President Donald Trump predicted Wednesday 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. 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.
After Trump’s comments, CDC officials said Wednesday night that the director thought he was answering a question about when vaccination of all Americans could be completed.
Redfield, sometimes masked in a Senate courtroom, also spoke emphatically of the importance of everyone wearing protective masks to stop the pandemic, which has killed nearly 200,000 Americans.
He raised the possibility that a vaccine could be 70% effective in inducing immunity, saying: “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 wouldn’t accept any of that from the CDC director.
“The vaccine is much more effective than the mask,” he declared.
As for vaccinating Americans, Trump said Wednesday: “We think we can start sometime 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.
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 not ready to deal with the demand for such a distribution and that some $ 6 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.”
Redfield said 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.
The Department of Health and Human Services 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.”
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.
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