It’s no secret that President Trump is pushing — and promising — a COVID vaccine before the presidential election. Now he has said that the White House ‘could override’ the US Food and Drug Administration if the agency released ‘tougher standards for the authorization of a Covid-19 vaccine,’ falsely claiming they will delay a life-saving vaccine for political reasons.
Trump was dismayed when the FDA issued a statement this week indicating that new vaccine guidelines meant there probably wouldn’t be an authorized (safe) vaccine before November.
This timeline — standard in the development of any new vaccine — ruins Trump’s plan of rushing a vaccine before November 3rd.
“We’re looking at that and that has to be approved by the White House. We may or may not approve it,” the President said of the new FDA guidelines at a White House news conference. “That sounds like a political move.”
In response, the FDA tried to assure a public already wary of a vaccine that Trump has weaponized in order to win the election:
“FDA will not authorize or approve any Covid-19 vaccine before it has met the agency’s rigorous expectations for safety and effectiveness. Decisions to authorize or approve any such vaccine or therapeutic will be made by the dedicated career staff at FDA, through our thorough review processes, and science will guide our decisions.’
“FDA will not permit any pressure from anyone to change that,” added the commissioner of the FDA, Dr. Stephen Hahn.