On Thursday in Philadelphia Trump boasted to the crowd that a vaccine shot ‘really might even be delivered before the end of October…How do you like that?’
Let’s ask the experts.
US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams says it is ‘improbable’ (although possible) that the nation will have a COVID vaccine by November 1, despite the CDC — under pressure from Trump — telling states to prepare for shots to arrive by the end of October.
And the ‘vaccine czar’ Dr. Moncef Slaoui also spoke out, saying there is a ‘very very low chance’ of a shot being ready by Halloween and promised to resign if there is ‘undue interference.’
Experts have warned about pushing to vaccinate people before the vaccine is read, saying the ‘warp speed’ rush isn’t safe …and possibly politically motivated.
In fact, in a Stat News and Harris Poll survey, 78 percent of people in the US think that the fast progress toward approval for a coronavirus vaccine is driven not by science, but by politics.
When the vaccine delivery expert Dr Peter Hotez was asked about the projected dates for the vaccine he emphatically stated:
‘This gives me concern. All of this together gives me the impression that this potentially more of a stunt than an expression of concern for public health, especially coming in the weeks before the election.’