By: Charles Xu
In April, when hospitals were overflowing with patients and most of the U.S. was locked down, the Department of Health and Human Services argued that rapid development of a coronavirus vaccine was the only way they could get the virus under control.
The deadline, set by the Trump Administration, was set to October of 2020, which is ambitious considering that it usually takes over a year to develop a vaccine. This date also happens to fallright before the presidential election in November.
The coronavirus pandemic is a key issue in Trump’s campaign, and whether he will be able to get the virus under control or not will be a deciding factor in his re-election.
Judd Deere, a White House spokesman, states, “The rapid research, development, trials and eventual distribution of a Covid-19 vaccine is emblematic of President Trump’s highest priority: the health and safety of the American people, it has nothing to do with politics.”
Despite these claims, experts are worried that the Trump Administration will sacrifice the effectiveness of the vaccine so they can push out a vaccine quickly.
“There are a lot of people on the inside of this process who are very nervous about whether the administration is going to reach their hand into the Warp Speed bucket, pull out one or two or three vaccines, and say, ‘We’ve tested it on a few thousand people, it looks safe, and now we are going to roll it out,’” said Dr. Paul A. Offit of the University of Pennsylvania.
“They are really worried about that,” he added. “And they should be.”
It’s not only the president who wants things to go back to normal. With around 1,000 people dying every day and over 40 million people jobless in the U.S., people are desperate for things to go back to the way they were.
Last week in a tweet, President Trump promised that he will “deliver a vaccine in record time.”
“We expect to have a vaccine available very, very early before the end of the year, far ahead of schedule,” said President Trump. “We’re very close to having that finalized.”