The latest battlefront in sociopath and reckless con man Donald "COVID Donnie" Trump's headlong, desperate push to get a vaccine for COVID-19 before November 3 may have run into a roadblock. The Food and Drug Administration, which is responsible for approving new vaccines and medications, is indicating that it will issue tough new standards for approving a vaccine that will make it nearly impossible to have a vaccine ready by that date. Clearly, Trump, who has falsely promised a vaccine by election day, will do everything in his power to void those standards, despite widespread public resistance to a vaccine based on their perception that it's production is politics-driven and not science-driven. According to a Pew Research poll cited in the linked article, only 50 percent of the public would take the vaccine today if available, down from 72 percent in May. That's Trump's effect on public confidence.
Earlier this month, nine pharmaceutical companies working on COVID-19 vaccines signed a pledge that they will not submit vaccine candidates to the FDA for approval "until their safety and efficacy is shown in large clinical trials." When Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the CDC, stated under oath before Congress a few days ago that a vaccine for widespread use would not be available until summer or fall of 2021, Trump, without evidence, said Redfield was wrong, continuing his effort to give voters a false sense of optimism and keep his reelection hopes alive.
Whether the FDA will hold the line after Trump's anticipated assault on them remains to be seen. But the fact that they've announced their intention to put science over Trump's political survival is another gauntlet thrown down by the scientific and medical community.
