Today, Pfizer is requesting US regulators to allow emergency use of the company’s COVID vaccine. If approved, it is projected Americans could see limited batches become available as early as next moth. This comes after Pfizer has claimed the vaccine is 95% effective.
Many believe the existence of a possible vaccine is nothing short of miraculous, and almost entirely because of Trump’s Operation Warp Speed initiative. The ability for a phramasutical to create and produce a vaccine this quickly will be an achievement never before seen. Even the left cannot avoid giving credit to the Trump Administration, with a Washington Post writer stating, “Say what you will about Trump’s handling of the pandemic, de deserves credit for this.”
Operation Warp Speed is quite literally the greatest public health achievement of modern times. The fastest development and distribution of a vaccine for a novel virus in history. Say what you will about Trump’s handling of the pandemic, he deserves credit for this.
— Marc Thiessen (@marcthiessen) November 19, 2020
Operation Warp Speed was established by the Trump Administration to deliver vaccines at a pace never before seen in the modern pharmaceuticals industry. As explained on the HHS.gov website, ” Operation Warp Speed’s goal is to produce and deliver 300 million doses of safe and effective vaccines with the initial doses available by January 2021, as part of a broader strategy to accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics (collectively known as countermeasures).”
The significance of possibly having a vaccine (or even two vaccines) before 2021 is an unexpected turn of events, as many in the mainstream media had been saying a vaccine could not possibly be created and distributed before the middle of 2021.
Asserting that vaccines wouldn’t be possible this early was a common theme across all media channels. These claims, made in direct contradiction of governmental officials, likely detracted from the President the monumental successes related to his COVID-response efforts.
Frustration with the press, and their biased reporting of the Trump Administration, has reached fever pitches. The President’s son @donaldrumpjr tweeted today, “A couple of weeks ago all the things Trump said would happen (and did) were told emphatically were lies. that’s the problem with journalism today!” Similar sentiments are being expressed across social media and conservative news outlets.
The existence of two possible vaccines, and the likelihood of their distribution, debunks months of negative coverage of the Trump Administration’s COVID response. Politics aside, having a proven vaccine this fast is a modern achievement that cannot be overlooked. This accomplishment is made even more special knowing that it occurred while many were saying it was impossible. It proves the impossible can happen when the government gets out of the way.