CDC Director Robert Redfield: “We’re probably looking at late second quarter, third quarter 2021.”
SHOT: Donald Trump has repeatedly pushed a false narrative that a vaccine will be ready by Election Day, despite experts and evidence contradicting that politically motivated timeline. He doubled down last night during his meandering town hall appearance on ABC.
- Trump On September 15: “We’re Within Weeks Of Getting It… Could Be Three Weeks, Four Weeks.” Trump said at an ABC town hall: “If you want to know the truth, the previous administration would have taken perhaps years to have a vaccine because of the FDA and all the approvals, and we’re within weeks of getting it. You know, could be three weeks, four weeks, but we think we have it. Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, we have great companies and they’re very, very close.” [ABC News, 9/15/20]
- Trump On September 12: “You’re Gonna Have A Vaccine Very Soon, By The End Of The Year, But I Think Maybe Much Sooner Than That.” Trump said: “I think we’re gonna see a vaccine very soon. We have great companies that are very far advanced, years ahead of where they would have been with a different president. And you’re gonna have a vaccine very soon, by the end of the year, but I think maybe much sooner than that.” [KTVN 2 News Reno, 9/12/20]
- Trump On August 27: We “Will Produce A Vaccine Before The End Of The Year, Or Maybe Even Sooner.” “President Trump on Thursday pledged a Covid-19 vaccine would be available by the end of 2020, the most concrete claim he has made yet about the timetable for coronavirus vaccine development. ‘We are delivering life-saving therapies, and will produce a vaccine before the end of the year, or maybe even sooner,’ he said.” [STAT, 8/27/20]
CHASER: Trump’s own experts are directly contradicting him again. At today’s Senate hearing, CDC Director Robert Redfield said even a vaccine developed by the end of this year wouldn’t be widely available to the public until the second half of 2021, months after Donald Trump’s empty Election Day promise.
- CDC Director Robert Redfield: “We’re Probably Looking At Late Second Quarter, Third Quarter 2021.” “‘If you’re asking me when is it going to be available to the American public,’ Redfield said to a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing, ‘I think we’re probably looking at late second quarter, third quarter 2021,’ which would suggest some time in late spring or summer of next year.” [Bloomberg, 9/16/20]
- Dr. Anthony Fauci Has Said Americans Shouldn’t Expect A Widely Available Vaccine Before Mid-2021. “Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has likewise said Americans shouldn’t expect a vaccine to be widely available before mid-2021.” [Bloomberg, 9/16/20]