President Donald Trump said the U.S. must re-open “vaccine or no vaccine,” as he declared the plan of providing coronavirus jab by the end of the year.
He compared the vaccine project, nicknamed “Operation Warp Speed,” to the Second World War. In an attempt to develop the world’s first nuclear bombs.
However, Mr. Trump made it clear that the Americans must start returning to their lives as usual, even without a vaccine. But experts don’t believe that the coronavirus vaccine can be ready within one year.
What is Operation Warp Speed?
Speaking at a news conference on Friday at the White House Rose Garden, Mr. Trump said the project would start with tests on 14 potential vaccine candidates for hastened research and approval.
“It’s big, and it’s fast,” he proclaimed of Operation Warp Speed. “A huge scientific, industrial, and logistical effort, unlike anything seen in our country since the Manhattan Project.”
Mr. Trump appointed an Army General and a retired Healthcare Executive to head the project. Besides, it’s a government-private collaboration to identify and distribute a vaccine.
Moncef Slaoui, who formerly led the division of vaccinations at the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, will direct the project. At the same time, Gen Gustave Perna, who manages distribution for the U.S. Army, will act as the chief operating officer.
Speaking after Mr. Trump, Mr. Slaoui said he was “optimistic” that “they will distribute a few hundred million doses of vaccine” before the end of 2020.
In an earlier interview with the New York Times, he admitted that the timeline was ambitious. However, he claimed that “he wouldn’t have dedicated himself if it wasn’t feasible.”
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Meanwhile, many experts say that the vaccine is the only thing that will give Americans confidence that the economy will fully re-open in the absence of widespread testing.
What else did President Trump say?
“I don’t want people to believe they’re all relying on a vaccine,” he said. “Vaccine or no vaccine, we’re back, so we’re going to start the process.”
“In many instances, they don’t have vaccines, and a virus or the flu comes, and they fight through it.”
Some things never had a vaccination, yet they went away.”
“I hope the schools will be open in the fall,” said Mr. Trump.
Earlier this week, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who leads the Coronavirus task force, appeared using a mask at the Rose Garden Conference. He reported to the Senate that it would be “a step too high” for schools to re-open in the fall.
As Mr. Trump spoke on Friday, lorry drivers who have been parking around the White House for a few weeks were blazing their horns in protest against low pay. Neither with nor against the president.
“These are nice truckers. They’re on our side,” said Mr. Trump. “In a sense, it’s like a party.”
At one stage, the president-who didn’t wear a mask-instructed a reporter to remove hers so that she could be audible as she spoke amidst the honking noise.
Is the end of 2020 a realistic timeframe for a vaccine?
Dr. Fauci and other experts firmly stated that it should take at least a year to produce a jab.
When the Ebola epidemic happened from 2014-16, it was not until December 2019 that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the first vaccine.
Many health analysts are doubtful regarding the accelerated timeline suggested by the White House for production and delivery.
“I don’t know how this happens,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Coronavirus Vaccination Program at Baylor College, on CNN, after Mr. Trump’s announcement.
“I do not see the route by which there’s an approved vaccination for emergency use or otherwise until the third quarter of 2021,” he said.
Dr. Rick Bright, a fired chief of U.S. vaccinations who accused the White House of exerting political pressure on coronavirus management, testified to Congress on Thursday that these jabs sometimes require up to ten years to create.
