The chief scientist of the Trump administration’s attempt to develop a coronavirus vaccine said in a new interview that he would “immediately” resign if he was forced to expedite a vaccine properly for political reasons.
“The data will dictate, the facts dictate,” said Moncef Slaoui, the administration’s chief scientist of Operation Warp Speed, in an appearance on a podcast held Thursday by the American Enterprise Institute.
“We can have the end point in October. We may have it on Nov. 4, who knows? We may have it on Dec. 15th. That’s the answer, and to be honest, on a personal basis, I would immediately resign if I was forced to do something I thought was inappropriate. “
The statement comes as Democrats and health experts have raised concerns about the politicization of the vaccination process and if President Trump
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Trump added fuel to the fire on Thursday when he said on Geraldo Rivera’s radio program that he thought it was possible to have a fax machine through the election.
“I think in some cases, yes, possibly sooner, but just around that time,” Trump said.
‘I’m in a hurry. I am. I pressure everyone, “Trump added, although he said he did not do it because of the election, but because” I want to save a lot of lives. “
In addition to Slaoui’s assurance, the Food and Drug Administration, which must approve each vaccine, also sought to provide assurances that each approval was free from political pressure.
“The guidance of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) physician (including the authors of this Viewpoint) undoubtedly states that candidates’ COVID-19 vaccines will be tested according to established legal and regulatory standards for medical products,” three top FDA officials, including Commissioner Stephen Hahn, wrote in a magazine article on Friday.
Officials have also referred themselves to the discussion of the fax at an expert advisory committee before approval.
“Given the widespread potential use of a COVID-19 vaccine, transparent discussion at FDA Vaccines and similar biological products advisory committees will be required prior to vaccine authorization or licensing to ensure a clear public understanding of the evidence supporting vaccine safety and efficacy,” the FDA said. wrote.
Rachel Sachs, an expert policy expert at the University of Washington in St. Louis; ”
As for the timeline, Slaoui said he hopes to have enough doses of vaccine “in the first two months of 2021” to “vaccinate populations at risk in the U.S.”
“I’m talking about maybe the 30 to 40 million most sensitive people in the US in maybe, December, January, February,” he said.
Slaoui has also questioned watchdog groups and Democrats about his financial holdings given his previous work in the pharmaceutical sector. He stated on the AEI podcast that he had divested his shares in Moderna, one of the companies that developed a vaccine, but on his shares in his former employer GSK, he said “that is my pension.”
He said he did not act in his current role out of any conflict of interest. “I know my values, I know my ethics,” he said.
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