President Trump will hold a press conference Sunday evening to announce a “major therapeutic breakthrough” for treating COVID-19, the White House says.
The president, accompanied by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Dr. Stephen Hahn, director of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), will make the announcement at 6 p.m. EDT, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany posted on Twitter late Saturday.
“News conference with President @realDonaldTrump at 6 pm tomorrow concerning a major therapeutic breakthrough on the China Virus. Secretary Azar and Dr. Hahn will be in attendance,” she wrote.
News conference with President @realDonaldTrump at 6 pm tomorrow concerning a major therapeutic breakthrough on the China Virus. Secretary Azar and Dr. Hahn will be in attendance.
— Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) August 23, 2020
McEnany’s tweet followed another from Trump, who suggested that the “deep state” was delaying clinical trials for vaccines for political purposes.
“The deep state, or whoever, over at the FDA is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics. Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd. Must focus on speed, and saving lives!” Trump tweeted.
The deep state, or whoever, over at the FDA is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics. Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd. Must focus on speed, and saving lives! @SteveFDA
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2020
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) blasted the president’s accusation, calling it “dangerous.”
“The FDA has a responsibility to approve drugs, judging on their safety and their efficacy, not by a declaration from the White House about speed and politicizing the FDA,” Pelosi said in a news conference on Capitol Hill, according to The Hill. “This was a very dangerous statement on the part of the president. Even for him, it went beyond the pale in terms of how he would jeopardize the health and well-being of the American people.”
In early August, Trump said a coronavirus vaccine could be possible by Election Day, “Sooner than the end of the year, could be much sooner,” Trump told radio host Geraldo Rivera, who asked about the earliest delivery date.
“Sooner than Nov. 3?” Rivera said.
“I think in some cases, yes — possible before, but right around that time,” Trump said. “The rest of the world is also doing vaccines, so let’s see how they do. I’m all for them, whoever comes up with one.”
On Aug. 11, Russia approved a vaccine for COVID-19, becoming the first nation in the world to mark the achievement.
President Vladimir Putin, who announced the approval of the vaccine, said one of his two adult daughters had already been inoculated. Putin also said the vaccine underwent all tests to show its effectiveness, although Russian officials offered no data to back up his claim. The approval was granted by Russian health officials after just two months of human testing, Reuters reported.
“A vaccine against coronavirus has been registered for the first time in the world this morning. I know that it works quite effectively, it forms a stable immunity,” Putin said on state TV. “I repeat, it has passed all the needed checks. … We must be grateful to those who made that first step very important for our country and the entire world.”
Putin said that his daughter had a 104.4-degree temperature when she had her first vaccine injection. Her temperature dropped to 98.6 degrees the next day, while a second shot brought a slight increase in her temperature, which later dropped, The Associated Press reported.