Vaccine a poll shot in the arm for Don
DONALD Trump vowed to defeat the coronavirus by “unleashing American scientific genius” as he toured a COVID-19 vaccine facility in the swing state of North Carolina.
The President appears to have pinned his hopes on the swift emergence of a successful vaccine to both contain the country’s still raging epidemic and revive his faltering chances of re-election.
“We will achieve a victory over the virus by unleashing American scientific genius,” he told reporters at Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies in Morrisville, hours after it was revealed that national security adviser Robert O’brien had tested positive.
The facility has been awarded a contract to mass produce an experimental vaccine developed by Novavax, as part of a multibillion-dollar government initiative dubbed Operation Warp Speed.
The plan involves investing heavily in leading pharmaceuticals to aid their development and manufacturing efforts, with the goal of delivering 300 million doses of the vaccine by January 2021.
It has “never been done before, but we suspect it’s going to work, and work very well,” Mr Trump said before putting on his presidential black mask to tour the laboratory.
The US is by far the worsthit country in the world, with more than 4.2 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and nearly 150,000 deaths.
Though the number new cases has levelled
THE body of US black rights campaigner and Democratic congressman John Lewis was carried to the US Capitol yesterday, where it will lie in state.
Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden and Vice President Mike Pence were among those who were expected to pay their respects.
Lewis, a 17-term Democratic of off over the past few days, the US has failed to push its curve down as other nations have done through lockdowns and physical distancing.
Mr Trump’s comments confirm his administration believes only a vaccine can help.
“It’s not masks. It’s not shutting down the economy. Hopefully, it is American ingenuity that will allow for therapies and vaccines to ultimately conquer this,” White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said. member of the US House of Representatives from the southern state of Georgia, died of pancreatic cancer on July 17 at the age of 80.
His flag-draped casket was placed in the centre of the grand rotunda of the US Capitol, which is a rarely bestowed honour. Because of the coronavirus, his body was then due to be moved outside to the Capitol’s steps
The virus has also repeatedly penetrated Mr Trump’s inner circle, with O’brien the latest and most senior White House aide to test positive.
He “has been self-isolating and working from a secure location off site,” the White House said in a statement, adding that there was “no risk of exposure to the President”.
Others who have been infected include Vice-president Mike Pence’s spokeswoman Katie Miller, and Kimberly Guilfoyle, a top fundraiser for the Trump campaign. to allow members of the public to pay tribute while social distancing.
Congressman Elijah Cummings, who died last year, was the first black congressman to lie in state in the Capitol, although not in the rotunda. Other politicians who have lain in state recently in the domed room include President George H.W. Bush and Senator John Mccain.