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A2 UP FRONT
Wednesday 9 december 2020
chief scientific adviser to
Biden's administration, ap-
peared virtually at the pres-
ident-elect's event, but did
not attend the White House
summit. The White House
did include early clips of
Fauci predicting a longer
development time for the
vaccines in a round-up of
skeptics of Trump's time-
table.
The Trump administration
insists that between the
Pfizer vaccine, the vaccine
from Moderna and others
in the pipeline, the U.S. will
be able to accommodate
any American who wants
to be vaccinated by the
end of the second quarter
of 2021.
The Food and Drug Admin-
istration's panel of outside
vaccine experts is to meet
Thursday to conduct a final
review of the Pfizer vac-
cine, and it will meet later
this month on the Moderna
President Donald Trump shows an executive order on vaccine distribution during an "Operation Warp Speed Vaccine Summit" on
the White House complex, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020, in Washington. version.
Associated Press FDA decisions on the two
vaccines are expected
Continued on next page was not immediately clear the government's distribu- as Biden struck a somber within days of each meet-
England began its first vac- what the practical impact tion system. tone about the toll the ing. Both have been de-
cinations earlier Tuesday, to would be. But career officials insisted coronavirus has already termined to be 95% effec-
great fanfare, as the world Tuesday's "Operation Warp it was still too early to de- taken. He said that, after tive against the virus that
mounts its fight against the Speed" event featured clare victory. about nine months of liv- causes COVID-19. Plans
pandemic that has killed Trump, Vice President Mike ""We don't want to get out ing with the pandemic, the call for distributing and
more than 285,000 Ameri- Pence and a host of gov- in front of ourselves," said U.S. is "at risk of becoming then administering about
cans and some 1.5 million ernment experts, state Army Gen. Gustave Perna, numb to its toll on all of us" 40 million doses of the two
people worldwide. leaders and business exec- responsible for overseeing and "resigned to feel that companies' vaccines by
Trump and his aides hope utives, as the White House the logistical and distribu- there's nothing we can do." the end of the year — with
to tamp down skepticism looked to explain that the tion efforts. "As my father Trump, meanwhile, de- the first doses shipping with-
among some Americans vaccine is safe and lay out used to say, 'You can only fended his decision to hold in hours of FDA clearance.
about the vaccines and the administration's plans spike the football when indoor holiday parties at The decision not to secure
help build the outgoing Re- to bring it to the American you're in the end zone.' the White House this De- additional Pfizer purchases
publican president's lega- people. But officials from Well, what is the end zone cember, though they have last summer was first report-
cy. Biden's transition team, described to us here? Shots attracted hundreds of ed by The New York Times.
However, Trump's adminis- which will oversee the bulk in arms." largely mask-less support- Health and Human Servic-
tration was also facing new of the largest vaccination Speaking in Wilmington, ers contrary to his adminis- es Secretary Alex Azar told
scrutiny Tuesday after fail- program in the nation's his- Delaware, Biden promised tration's warnings that the NBC the administration is
ing to lock in a chance to tory once he takes office to distribute "100 million American public should "continuing to work across
buy millions of additional Jan. 20, were not invited. shots in the first 100 days" of avoid such settings. manufacturers to expand
doses of Pfizer's vaccine, Biden, who was rolling out his administration — rough- "Well, they're Christmas par- the availability of releas-
which has been shown to his senior health team on ly on pace with Trump's ties," he told reporters Tues- able, of FDA-approved
be highly effective against Tuesday, said last week projections for vaccination. day. vaccine as quickly as possi-
COVID-19. That decision that in meetings with Trump Introducing his pandemic Though Trump was taking ble. … We do still have that
could delay the delivery of administration officials his response team on Tuesday, credit for the pace of vac- option for an additional 500
a second batch of doses aides have discovered that Biden laid out his priorities cine development, much million doses."
until Pfizer fulfills other inter- "there's no detailed plan for the start of his new gov- of the groundwork was Dr. Moncef Slaoui, who is
national contracts. that we've seen" for how ernment. He repeated his laid over the past decade, leading the government's
Trump used Tuesday's event to get the vaccines out of previous calls for all Ameri- amid new research into vaccine effort, noted the
to sign an executive order containers, into syringes cans to wear masks for 100 messenger RNA, or mRNA, Trump administration had
in which the secretary of and then into people's days to prevent the spread vaccines — of the sort de- been looking at a num-
Health and Human Servic- arms. of the virus and said he'd veloped by both Pfizer and ber of different vaccines
es is directed to ensure that Trump administration of- mandate doing so in feder- Moderna. during the summer. He
Americans have priority ac- ficials insist that such plans al buildings and on public "The speed is a reflection told ABC's "Good Morning
cess to the vaccine. have been developed, transportation. Biden also of years of work that went America" on Tuesday that
A senior administration of- with the bulk of the work said he believed the virus before," Dr. Anthony Fauci, "no one reasonably would
ficial said the order would falling to states and local could be brought under the top U.S. infectious dis- buy more from any one of
restrict the federal govern- governments to ensure enough control to reopen ease expert, told The As- those vaccines because
ment from delivering doses their most vulnerable popu- "the majority of schools" sociated Press this month. we didn't know which one
to other nations until there lations are vaccinated first. within his first 100 days as "That's what the public has would work and which one
is excess supply to meet In all, about 50,000 vacci- president. to understand." would be better than the
domestic demand, but it nation sites are enrolled in Those pledges came even Fauci, who will serve as a other."q