Trump says Pfizer withheld announcement on COVID-19 vaccine before election
What's the story
United States President Donald Trump has accused pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and the US Food and Drug Administration of delaying the announcement on a COVID-19 vaccine until after the 2020 Presidential election.
Pfizer has announced that its COVID-19 vaccine is over 90% effective.
Trump, who lost the election to Democratic rival Joe Biden, said Pfizer "didn't have the courage" to make an earlier announcement.
Details
'Pfizer didn't have courage to make announcement before election'
In a series of tweets, Trump said Pfizer and the US FDA withheld the Vaccine announcement for political purposes.
He said, "As I have long said, @Pfizer and the others would only announce a vaccine after the election, because they didn't have the courage to do it before. Likewise, the @US_FDA should have announced it earlier, not for political purposes, but for saving lives!"
Twitter Post
You can view the tweet here
If Joe Biden were President, you wouldn’t have the Vaccine for another four years, nor would the @US_FDA have ever approved it so quickly. The bureaucracy would have destroyed millions of lives!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 10, 2020
Pfizer’s announcement
Pfizer, BioNTech announce their vaccine is 'over 90% effective'
Pfizer and German biotech firm BioNTech have said their COVID-19 vaccine is over 90% effective, based on initial data from a large study.
The two drugmakers are the first to show successful data from a large-scale clinical trial for the vaccine.
Pfizer mentioned plans to seek emergency-use authorization from the FDA for people aged 16 to 85.
Other developments
Earlier, Vice President Pence attributed Pfizer's success to Trump
The news of the vaccine's early success has been celebrated, with Vice President Mike Pence tweeting, "Thanks to the public-private partnership forged by President @realDonaldTrump, @pfizer announced its coronavirus vaccine trial is EFFECTIVE, preventing infection in 90% of volunteers."
Pfizer has sought to clarify that it has not taken any funding under Operation Warp Speed, the federal effort to rush a vaccine to market.
Quote
'No vaccine for another 4 years if Biden were President'
Trump tweeted, "If Joe Biden were President, you wouldn't have the Vaccine for another four years, nor would the @US_FDA have ever approved it so quickly." (The FDA hasn't approved it yet.)
He added, "The @US_FDA and the Democrats didn't want to have me get a vaccine WIN, prior to the election, so instead it came out five days later—As I've said all along!"
US election
Biden named President-elect, denying Trump re-election
Trump was hoping for a re-election in the 2020 US Presidential race. However, Biden—who hailed Pfizer's announcement as "excellent news"—is set to become the 46th President of the United States.
Trump has alleged fraud in the 2020 election, filing several lawsuits in key states.
Trump's administration had notably faced widespread criticism over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.