Media insist Trump gets no credit as Pfizer says covid vaccine is 90 percent effective

by WorldTribune Staff, November 9, 2020

Pfizer reported that its coronavirus vaccine proved more than 90 percent effective at trial.

It is no doubt an amazing achievement for science and for the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed program.

While a mask-wearing, lockdown-weary populace was breathing a huge sigh of relief at the news of an effective covid vaccine, Trump-hating media swiftly went into action in an attempt to pour water on any celebrating at the White House.

“No sooner had the news broken than outlets like the New York Times and Washington Post sought to make sure Trump got no credit for it,” The Federalist’s David Marcus noted.

The NY Times quoted Kathrin Jansen, the head of vaccine development at Pfizer as saying, “We have never taken money from the U.S. government or from anyone,” and then went on to claim Pfizer was never a part of Operation Warp Speed.

“This is simply not true,” Marcus pointed out.

The Trump administration in July placed an initial order with Pfizer — worth nearly $2 billion — for 100 million doses, with the option to acquire up to 500 million additional doses. The agreement takes effect once the FDA grants emergency authorization of the vaccine.

“No money went specifically into the vaccine’s research and development, but Pfizer absolutely did take government money, and was forced to walk back Jansen’s statement,” Marcus noted.

A Pfizer spokesperson clarified that its vaccine is specifically linked to Operation Warp Speed.

Marcus went on to note:

There are a few things here that are absolutely shameful. First is that so many news outlets thought the big news here was not that we were nearing a effective vaccine, but that Donald Trump must get no credit for it. But hey, that’s just par for the course right?

What is even worse is that a ten-second Google search would have shown that Pfizer was a part of Operation Warp Speed. Hell, even the Wikipedia page shows that Pfizer was a part of Operation Warp Speed. For all of its thousands of employees and giant building on 42nd street, the New York Times couldn’t find what I found while smoking a cigarette in my backyard by looking at my phone?

This is what the corporate news media does now. They lie, or at least fail to do anything resembling due diligence as long as what they are reporting hurts Donald Trump and then they clarify. That is not responsible journalism. There is no doubt that millions of people will continue to believe this lie that was corrected in under in less than two hours. As the old saying goes, lies travel the globe before the truth can get its pants on.

Pfizer says it expects to be able to produce up to 50 million doses by the end of 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021.

Trump welcomed the news and pointed to Wall Street’s high-performing day because of Pfizer’s announcement.

“STOCK MARKET UP BIG, VACCINE COMING SOON. REPORT 90% EFFECTIVE. SUCH GREAT NEWS!” he tweeted.

Vice President Mike Pence tweeted that it was “huge news” and a credit to the “public-private partnership” forged by Trump, whose Operation Warp Speed has given out $10 billion to put the vaccine process on a record-setting pace.

Pfizer said it counted 94 infections within a study of more than 40,000 participants and looked at who received the vaccine, versus the placebo, to determine its efficacy. Recipients achieved protection 28 days after the second dose of the vaccine.

Pfizer said it will continue to analyze participants until it counts up 164 cases of the coronavirus, allowing it to form a final analysis. The company did not say how many people in the vaccine group or placebo group were infected, but the statistics they provided suggest most of the cases occurred in people who got a shot of saltwater.

“Today is a great day for science and humanity. The first set of results from our Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccine’s ability to prevent COVID-19,” Pfizer Chairman and CEO Dr. Albert Bourla said.

“We are reaching this critical milestone in our vaccine development program at a time when the world needs it most with infection rates setting new records, hospitals nearing over-capacity and economies struggling to reopen,” Dr. Bourla said. “With today’s news, we are a significant step closer to providing people around the world with a much-needed breakthrough to help bring an end to this global health crisis.”

The Food and Drug Administration said it wants two months of safety data from half of Pfizer trial participants after their second dose, pushing the timeline for emergency approval to the latter half of this month. Then, health and frontline workers are expected to receive the first doses, followed by seniors and the vulnerable.

Joe Biden said the development was “excellent news” but warned Americans against throwing their masks away.

“It is also important to understand that the end of the battle against COVID-19 is still months away,” Biden said.


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