As the U.S. gears up for the 2020 presidential election, there are questions surrounding if there is a push to get a COVID-19 vaccine out before the election.
Fox News anchor John Roberts mentioned questions from some surrounding if there will be “an October surprise in the political campaign,” citing President Donald Trump suggesting a vaccine could be ready by September or October.
After playing footage of remarks by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar saying, “There’s no politics in any of this,” Dr. Anthony Fauci was asked if “there any political pressure to get this out there before November the 3rd” and if there are “any corners being cut in order to do that.”
Fauci, the nation’s top disease expert, responded, “Certainly, there are no corners being cut, John. I will guarantee you that.”
“Safety is very important. What we’re doing is not compromising safety, and certainly not compromising scientific integrity,” he added.
Fauci then noted that he spoke with Trump on Monday, “We, in fact, briefed the president today about this in the Oval Office. And there is no political pressure that I have seen at all to move quickly.”
Watch Fauci’s interview below:
Fauci added:
“So, if we go out there — we’re going to have 30,000 people in the trial — 15,000 will get the vaccine and 15,000 will be placebo. If you look at the accrual and the rate of accrual, that you could project that you will get an answer sometime in the mid to late fall. That could be November. That could be October.
It’s very, very difficult to predict. It’s going to be, the infection rate and the people who get vaccinated, are they within that group? Something we can’t predict.”
On Monday, Trump spoke in Morrisville, North Carolina, where a COVID-19 vaccine is being worked on. At the facility, the president said of a potential vaccine, “I heard very positive things, but by the end of the year, we think we’re in very good shape to be doing that,” as IJR reported.