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Gov. Cuomo: Vaccine’s Timing Is ‘Bad News,’ Suggests Undermining Trump’s COVID Vaccination Plan

   DailyWire.com
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 08: New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks at a news conference on September 08, 2020 in New York City. Cuomo, though easing restrictions on casinos and malls throughout the state, has declined to do so for indoor dining in restaurants in New York City despite pressure from business owners, citing struggles by the city to enforce the state's previous orders. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo suggested that the United States should delay vaccinating people against COVID-19 until at least Jan. 20, 2021, when Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is slated to be inaugurated.

Cuomo appeared on ABC News on Monday morning with host George Stephanopoulos after news broke that Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine candidate to inoculate against the coronavirus may be 90% effective. Pfizer also said that it plans on applying for authorization to begin administering the vaccine by the end of the month.

Cuomo said the creation of the vaccine is good, but he added that the fact it was going to come out under President Donald Trump was “bad news” and that Cuomo is working with other governors to “shape” or “stop” Trump’s plan to disseminate the vaccine to Americans. Cuomo wants to delay the vaccine’s dissemination until Biden presumably takes office, though Trump’s campaign is still filing legal challenges over alleged voter fraud.

“It’s good news/bad news, George. The good news is the Pfizer tests look good and we’ll have a vaccine shortly. The bad news is that it’s about two months before Joe Biden takes over, and that means this administration is going to be implementing a vaccine plan,” Cuomo said. “The Trump administration is rolling out the vaccination plan and I believe it is flawed. I believe it learns nothing from the past. They’re basically going to have the private providers do it and that is going to leave out all sorts of communities that were left out the first time when COVID ravaged them.”

“We have two months and we can’t let this vaccination plan go forward,” Cuomo continued. “The way the Trump administration is designing it because Biden can’t undo it two months later. We’ll be in the midst of it. And I’ve been talking to governors across the nation about that. How can we shape the Trump administration vaccine plan to fix it or stop it before it does damage.”

Cuomo has taken significant criticism over his own handling of the coronavirus in New York. In March, New York’s Department of Health issued an advisory ordering nursing homes to accept patients from hospitals whether or not they first tested negative for the coronavirus. The practice was reversed in May after the governor took heavy criticism for expediting the spread of the disease among the state’s elderly who are significantly more vulnerable to the disease than younger patients.

Pfizer announced the news of its vaccine on Monday morning. As The Daily Wire reported:

The pharmaceutical company Pfizer says that its developmental vaccine for COVID-19 may be 90% effective at inoculating people against the disease.

The company announced the news in a statement issued Monday morning. The rate of effectiveness was calculated by analyzing early data from 94 trial participants in a study involving 43,538 subjects from all over the world. The small early sample means that the protection rate could change by the time the study ends and all the participants are accounted for, according to The Associated Press.

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