TRUMP PLAN IS ‘WARPED’
Don vows vaccine, then says we don’t need it
President Trump unveiled an ambitious coronavirus vaccine plan on Friday and vowed that the hunt for a cure will prevail “in the pretty near future.”
But in the same breath, the president suggested the nation could also probably do without a vaccine.
“I just want to make something clear, it’s very important: Vaccine or no vaccine, we’re back … You fight through it,” Trump said during a White House Rose Garden press conference on the so-called “Operation Warp Speed” vaccine project.
Trump’s mixed messages belie advice from scientists who say the pandemic likely won’t subside until a vaccine has been developed.
Among those scientists is Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert and a senior adviser on the White House coronavirus task force.
Fauci testified before
Congress earlier this week that a vaccine is tantamount to beating the virus since COVID-19 won’t “just disappear” on its own.
But during Friday’s “Warp Speed” announcement, a face mask-wearing Fauci stood silently by the podium as a maskless Trump said the diametrical opposite.
“It’ll go away at some point, it’ll go away,” Trump said of the virus.
Even though the U.S. coronavirus death toll is nearing 90,000, Trump’s pushing for a swift economic revival amid historically disastrous unemployment figures and a looming recession.
Trump’s vaccine project aims to have 300 million doses of vaccine in stock by January, an enormously difficult undertaking.
“Unlike anything our country has seen since the Manhattan Project,” Trump said.
A vaccine has never been created from scratch in such a short span of time.
Most experts say a coronavirus vaccine can’t realistically be ready for another 12 to 18 months, even if everything goes as planned.
The “Warp Speed” announcement came the day after Dr. Richard Bright, the administration’s ousted vaccine czar, testified before the House that the pandemic hit the U.S. especially hard because the president’s top political appointees ignored his early warnings about the dangers of the virus.
Moncef Slaoui, a former pharmaceutical executive,
will lead the new vaccine effort, Trump said.
Slaoui acknowledged the challenge ahead of having a vaccine ready for January.
“I believe they are very credible,” Slaoui said. “I also believe they are extremely challenging.”
Bright, who has filed a whistleblower complaint charging that his abrupt removal was the result of political retribution, advised against rushing to get a vaccine ready during his Thursday testimony.
“My concern is if we rush too quickly, and consider cutting out critical steps, we may not have a full assessment of the safety of that vaccine,” Bright said. “So, it’s still going to take some time.”
After his vaccine announcement in the Rose Garden, Trump retreated to the Oval Office to unveil the official flag for Space Force, the newest branch of the U.S. military.
Trump called the unfurling of the flag “a very special moment,” though some Star Trek fans have voiced outrage over the seal’s similarity to the science fiction franchise’s logo.
Also during the Space Force flag ceremony, the speed-obsessed president hyped a new weapon that he claimed military leaders were working on.
“We have, I call it the super duper missile, and I heard the other night (it is) 17 times faster than what they have right now,” Trump said.