President Trump is in a perilous political spot even after his discharge from the hospital on Monday evening.
Many of the difficulties are of Trump’s own making.
The president is always eager to portray himself as strong and vigorous — something that he has sought to push even harder since he acknowledged in the early hours of Friday that he had tested positive for COVID-19. Continue reading.
Redfield tells Senate panel $6 billion more is needed to help states and cities develop distribution plans; $250 million reportedly being used for public relations push
The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked senators Wednesday for billions of dollars more for COVID-19 vaccine distribution as he addressed allegations of political interference and disclosed that the Trump administration transferred $300 million from the CDC for a public relations campaign.
During a Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, CDC Director Robert Redfield told Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the subcommittee’s ranking member, that the Health and Human Services Department and the Office of Management and Budget directed the CDC to transfer $300 million to the HHS public affairs office.
Of that amount, $250 million is reportedly being used for a public relations campaign “to defeat despair and inspire hope” in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed nearly 200,000 Americans. Lawmakers view the ads as an attempt to cast the Trump administration’s response to COVID-19 in a positive light. Redfield said that since the transfer was made, the CDC hasn’t been involved in the campaign and hasn’t been asked to weigh in with scientific expertise. Continue reading.
If a vaccine comes out before the election, there are very good reasons not to take it.
True to the president’s word—or threat, perhaps—the United States government is preparing to roll out a COVID-19 vaccine on, or before, Nov. 1, even though none of the more than 150 vaccines in the research pipeline worldwide have completed Phase 3 safety and efficacy clinical trials. In its mad sprint to Election Day, the White House has funneled billions of dollars into drug companies and ordered government agencies to execute their public health duties at breakneck speeds that defy credulity. Like most experts closely watching these developments, I have no confidence that a safe, effective vaccine will be ready for use by Halloween. Worse, I can no longer recommend that anyone retain faith in any public health pronouncements issued by government agencies.
State and territorial governors across America have received a letter dated Aug. 27 from the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Robert Redfield, instructing them to grant facilities and licensing to a private contractor, McKesson Co., for mass immunizations. “CDC urgently requests your assistance in expediting applications for these distribution facilities,” Redfield wrote, “and, if necessary, asks that you consider waiving requirements that would prevent these facilities from becoming fully operational by November 1, 2020.”
With that mass vaccination date less than 58 days away—and, surely not coincidentally, two days before the national elections—states must scramble to submit their immunization scheme to the CDC for approval by Oct. 1. This must cover everything from logistics and personnel to public education and recruitment. The pace required here is astounding, dramatically more rapid than any prior drug or vaccine rollout in history. Though officials insist no corners are being cut, the timetable is simply too short for full safety analysis of any vaccine. Continue reading.
