President Trump plans to hold a news conference Sunday night about a possible major therapeutic ‘breakthrough’ for the treatment of the coronavirus.
The president will announce the development at 6 p.m., accompanied by Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and Dr. Stephen Hahn, head of the Food and Drug Administration, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany posted on Twitter on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, the president suggested that someone at the FDA deliberately tried to delay clinical trials for therapeutics and vaccines for political purposes.
“Obviously, they hope to delay the response until after November 3,” Trump tweeted, referring to election day. “Must focus on speed, and saving lives!”
TRUMP ACCUSES ‘DEEP STATE’ FDA OF THWARTING EFFORTS FOR COROANVIRUS TREATMENTS IN FULL
The president did not elaborate on the accusation or provide any evidence.
Chamber member Nancy Pelosi quickly dismissed the president’s accusation as “dangerous.”
“The FDA has a responsibility to approve drugs, to judge their safety and effectiveness, not by a White House statement on FDA speed and politicization,” Pelosi told a news conference on Capitol Hill, according to The Hill.
“This was a very dangerous statement on the part of the president. Even for him, it went beyond the bare in terms of how he would endanger the health and well-being of the American people.”
Scientists around the world are driving to create a safe and effective vaccine for the virus in what is normally a years-long process.
Trump said earlier this month – while balancing with “speed and security” – Americans could have a vaccine “perhaps far ahead of the end of the year.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top expert on infection for disease, said he was ‘cautiously optimistic’ that a vaccine would be available by the end of this year or early next year, but it would probably not be widely available until later. year at the earliest. Even with a vaccine, it is unlikely to be close to 100% effective, he said.
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When patients recover from the virus, some have reported persistent symptoms such as fever, fever, and chronic fatigue. One young patient who had improved after three weeks of rest saw symptoms return sporadically in the past five months.
The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said it is possible that the virus could be within two years.
“We hope to end this pandemic (in) less than two years, especially if we can pool our efforts,” he said Friday.
The virus has killed more than 174,000 people in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Fox News’ Julia Musto contributed to this report.
