White House toasts impending vaccine
Operation Warp Speed held up as big success
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump celebrated the expected approval of the first U.S. vaccine for the coronavirus Tuesday as the White House worked to instill confidence in the massive distribution effort, which will largely be executed by President-elect Joe Biden.
Trump said the expected approvals are coming before most people thought possible.
Trump led Tuesday’s White
House event celebrating Operation Warp Speed, his administration’s effort to produce and distribute safe and effective vaccines for
COVID-19. The first vaccine, from drugmaker Pfizer, is expected to receive endorsement by a panel of Food and Drug Administration advisers as soon as this week, with delivery of enough doses for 50 million Americans expected in coming months.
“Every American who wants the vaccine will be able to get the vaccine and we think by spring we’re going to be in a position nobody would have believed possible just a few months ago,” Trump said.
Pfizer developed its vaccine outside of Operation Warp Speed but is partnering with the federal government on manufacturing and distribution.
England began its first vaccinations Tuesday, to great fanfare, as the world mounts its fight against the pandemic, which has killed more than 285,000 Americans and some 1.5 million people worldwide.
Trump and his aides hope to tamp down skepticism among some Americans about the vaccines and help build the outgoing Republican president’s legacy.
However, Trump’s administration was also facing new scrutiny Tuesday after failing to lock in a chance to buy millions of additional doses of Pfizer’s vaccine, which has been shown to be highly effective against COVID-19. That decision could delay the delivery of a second batch of doses until Pfizer fulfills other international contracts.
Trump used Tuesday’s event to sign an executive order in which the secretary of health and human services is directed to ensure that Americans have priority access to the vaccine.