President Trump Lauds COVID Vaccines to Come Soon, Calls out Gov. Cuomo for Refusing them

By Yehudit Garmaise

   “The Calvary is coming,” said Vice President Mike Pence as, right before Shabbos, he thanked President Trump for his bold leadership in getting viable COVID-19 vaccines out to the American people more quickly than anyone reasonably expected. “We are on track to deliver a safe and effective vaccine. I firmly believe that a bright future will be here very soon.”

   “In the past nine months my administration has initiated the single greatest mobilization in U.S. history: [which has been] pioneering, developing, and manufacturing therapies and vaccines in record time: five times faster than any prior vaccine has been created in history,” President Trump said on Friday in a press conference to announce the recent successes of “Operation Warp Speed,” which is the president’s initiative to produce and deliver the first doses of 300 million safe and effective vaccines by January 2021.

   Among the successes of the Operation Warp Speed, just this week, as outlined by Vice President Pence, was, first, the announcement on Monday by Pfizer, which received $1.5 billion in federal funding from the president, that it has a promising vaccine candidate with a 90% efficacy rate, which is “ready to go out the door,” Trump said, as soon as approval is secured.

  “We will work to secure an ‘emergency use authorization,’ which should be coming down extremely soon,” President Trump said. “And my administration will then coordinate the distribution of the vaccine and it will be approved very, very quickly, we hope.

   Secondly, the FDA authorized Eli Lilly’s antibody treatment, which significantly helps anyone at serious risk for the disease to stay out of the hospital, and which the government has begun to distribute. Third, another vaccine company, Moderna, reached a critical clinical milestone, said Pence, who added that more data about Moderna’s vaccine is expected in days.

  “The vaccines and therapeutics we have developed will be judged independently, and if approved, they should be used by all in the population because I believe that vaccination is to be the cornerstone among all the other measures we have to take to help us to really control this pandemic,” Pence said.

  Although the United States’ advancements and results in creating viable vaccines and therapeutics to prevent and treat COVID-19 are “unequaled and unrivaled around the world,” said the president, he was sorry to report that although the federal government is feverishly preparing to begin to administer vaccines as soon as approval is granted, one governor, in particular, has announced that he will not accept deliveries of the COVID-19 vaccine to the residents of his state.

   “As soon as April, the vaccine will be available to the entire general population,” President Trump said, “with the exception of places like New York State, which for political reasons, the governor decided to say, ‘I don’t think it is good politically.’

   “I think it is really bad from a health standpoint, but [Gov. Cuomo] wants to take his time with the vaccine. He doesn’t trust where the vaccine is coming from. These [vaccines] are coming from the greatest companies anywhere in the world, the greatest labs in the world. But he doesn’t trust this White House, this administration, so we won’t be delivering it to New York until we have the authorization to do so, and that pains me to say that.

   “This is a very successful, amazing vaccine at 90% and more, so Gov. Cuomo will have to let us know when he is ready for it, otherwise we can’t be delivering it to a state that won’t be giving it to its people immediately, and I know the people of New York very well, I know they want it.

  “So, the governor will let us know when he is ready. ..We are ready to provide it as soon as they let us know they that actually will use it. Again, it is a very safe and a great vaccine.”

   As Vice-President Pence lauded the president’s leadership in providing $10 billion and assembling the best team of vaccine experts and other leaders, Pence also praised the rigorous, independent process of the creation of the vaccine and therapeutics.

   “This process has been driven solely by science and data, so it is a shame that some, one example being the governor of New York, have actually injected politics into the process and suggested the possibility of delaying access to an FDA-authorized vaccine, which is simply unconscionable,” Pence said.

Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour)