Pfizer and Moderna Reporting More Than 90 Percent Effectiveness in Vaccines
But Biden, Transition Officials, Experts Warn Trump Obstruction Will Cost Lives On Vaccine Distribution Plan as Transition Is Delayed
As the United States nears 250,000 lives lost to COVID-19, the prospect of two effective vaccines is a welcome development in an otherwise devastating crisis.
But the effective distribution of these vaccines remains a distant possibility, as Donald Trump refuses to concede the election in the face of President-Elect Biden’s decisive victory and bars the incoming administration from critical information on the pandemic.
As the United States reports more than 150,000 infections each day, hospitals are overrun, and the death toll climbs, the Biden Administration desperately needs to be able to discuss plans for the mass distribution of a vaccine with key officials at public health agencies to protect public health and save lives. Donald Trump’s obstruction of those conversations will have dire consequences for the American people, who have suffered enough.
Two Pharmaceutical Companies Are Reporting Vaccine Trial Results That Are More Than 90 Percent Effective
- Early Data Suggests That Moderna’s Coronavirus Vaccine Is 94.5 Percent Effective. “The drugmaker Moderna announced on Monday that its coronavirus vaccine was 94.5 percent effective, joining Pfizer as a front-runner in the global race to contain a raging pandemic that has killed 1.2 million people worldwide… Moderna also reported on Monday that its vaccine had a longer shelf life under refrigeration and at room temperature than previously reported, which should make it easier to store and use.” [New York Times, 11/16/20]
- Pfizer Says Its Coronavirus Vaccine Is 95 Percent Effective, And 94 Percent Effective In Older Adults Who Are More At Risk For The Virus. “The drug maker Pfizer said on Wednesday that its coronavirus vaccine was 95 percent effective and had no serious side effects — the first set of complete results from a late-stage vaccine trial as Covid-19 cases skyrocket around the globe. The data showed that the vaccine prevented mild and severe forms of Covid-19, the company said. And it was 94 percent effective in older adults, who are more vulnerable to developing severe Covid-19 and who do not respond strongly to some types of vaccines.” [New York Times, 11/18/20]
- If The FDA Authorizes The Pfizer Vaccine, The Company Could Have 50 Million Doses Available By The End Of The Year. “If the F.D.A. authorizes the two-dose vaccine, Pfizer has said that it could have up to 50 million doses available by the end of the year, and up to 1.3 billion by the end of next year.” [New York Times, 11/18/20]
But Trump’s Continued Obstruction Of Biden’s Transition Team Could Impede The New Administration’s Ability To Successfully Roll Out A Vaccine
- President-Elect Biden: “More People May Die If We Don’t Coordinate” On Vaccine Distribution. “President-elect Joe Biden pressed the Trump administration Monday to offer up more details about how it intends to allocate Covid-19 vaccinations once they are available, while also accusing the president of putting lives at risk by refusing to coordinate with his team. ‘The sooner we have access to the administration’s distribution plan, the sooner this transition would be smoothly moved forward,’ Biden said in a speech from Wilmington, Del… Biden warned that keeping a firewall between the Trump administration’s Covid-19 response leaders and his transition’s medical experts risks undercutting the effort to combat the pandemic. ‘More people may die if we don’t coordinate,’ Biden said. ‘And so it’s important that it be done — that there be coordination now. Now, or as rapidly as we can get that done.’” [Politico, 11/16/20]
- Vivek Murthy, Co-Chair Of Biden’s COVID-19 Advisory Board: “We Need Cooperation In Order To Ensure We Have A Good Vaccine Delivery Plan… We Really Need It Across The Board.” “‘Not only do we need cooperation in order to ensure that we have a good vaccine delivery plan — we really need it across the board,’ said Vivek Murthy, one of the co-chairs of the advisory board. ‘That cooperation will impact how effective we are at closing the testing gap, ensuring that hospitals and doctors and nurses have enough protective equipment like masks and gloves and make sure we have enough syringes and swabs to proceed with a vaccination campaign.’” [Politico, 11/17/20]
- Atul Gawande, Surgeon And Member Of Biden’s Coronavirus Advisory Board: “It Is In The Nation’s Interests That The Transition Team Get The Threat Assessments That The Team Knows About, Understand The Vaccine Distribution Plans.” “The transition team is ‘ready to go,’ Atul Gawande, a member of Biden’s coronavirus advisory board, replied on the show. ‘It is in the nation’s interests that the transition team get the threat assessments that the team knows about, understand the vaccine distribution plans.’” [Politico, 11/15/20]
- Ron Klain, Biden’s Selection To Be White House Chief Of Staff, Stressed That Biden’s Transition Team Needed Access To H.H.S. In Order To Prepare For A Successful Vaccine Rollout. “Joe Biden’s going to become president of the United States in the midst of an ongoing crisis,’ Klain said on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press.’ ‘That has to be a seamless transition.’ ‘We now have the possibility … of a vaccine,’ he went on. ‘There are people at HHS making plans to implement that vaccine. Our experts need to talk to those people as soon as possible so nothing drops in this change of power we’re going to have on January 20th.’” [Politico, 11/15/20]
- Ron Klain: “The Bigger Issue Will Be The Mechanics Of Manufacture And Distribution, Getting This Vaccine Out.” “Manufacturing and distributing the vaccines will be one of the key challenges Biden’s administration will face once the president-elect takes office on Jan. 20. Pfizer’s vaccine, which was found through preliminary data to be more than 90% effective in preventing Covid-19, comes with extensive storage and distribution requirements, including ultra-cold temperatures. ‘The bigger issue will be the mechanics of manufacture and distribution, getting this vaccine out,’ Klain said, adding that it’s important Biden’s transition team collaborates with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ‘as quickly as possible.’” [CNBC, 11/15/20]
- Dr. Anthony Fauci Has Raised Concerns That Trump’s Obstruction Of A Smooth Transition Could Impede Vaccine Distribution. “‘Now we have two vaccines that are really quite effective. So I think this is a really strong step forward to where we want to be, about getting control of this outbreak,’ Fauci said, describing Moderna’s data as ‘striking’ and ‘really quite impressive.’ … But Fauci also reiterated his concerns from over the weekend about the lack of coordination between President Donald Trump’s administration and President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team. ‘Transitions are very important,’ he said, adding that it’s critical to ensure a smooth ‘passing of the baton without stopping running.’ ‘This is something that just is now going in the very, very strong right direction,’ Fauci said of the fight to discover a Covid vaccine. ‘The vaccines are effective. We want to get it approved as quickly as we possibly can. We want to get doses to people starting in December, and then we want to really get the ball rolling as we get into’ the first few months of next year. ‘We want a smooth process for that,’ Fauci added. ‘And the way you do that is by essentially having the two groups speak to each other and exchange information.’” [Politico, 11/16/20]
- Dr. Rick Bright, Former BARDA Director And Member Of President-Elect Biden’s COVID-19 Advisory Board: “We Haven’t Been Able To Sit Down With The Trump Administration… To Understand What Plans Are In Place.” “Rick Bright, a member of President-elect Joe Biden’s Covid-19 advisory board, said on Wednesday that a lack of official contact between the current and incoming administrations is setting them back, and they don’t want anything to get in the way of the delivering vaccines to the American people as soon as they can… ‘We haven’t been able to sit down with the Trump administration at all, to be able to understand what plans are in place, where the gaps are, where help is needed, and how we can make sure there’s a smooth handoff after January 20, where the bulk of these vaccines will be administered after that date,’ he said. Bright said the Biden team doesn’t ‘want to have to step back, rewrite a plan, fix the communication gap or do anything. We want to keep running as quickly as and efficiently as possible to make sure Americans can get the vaccine as they become available.’” [CNN, 11/18/20]
- David Kessler, Co-Chair Of Biden’s COVID-19 Advisory Board: “Our Team Cannot Communicate With” Career Officials Planning For Vaccine Distribution. “‘We do not have access to official government data, internal data sets,’ David Kessler, one of the co-chairs of Biden’s COVID-19 advisory board, said during a Tuesday press call. ‘We’re dependent on everything that you see,’ he added, pointing to the COVID Tracking Project launched by the Atlantic to collect public data related to the pandemic… ‘There are career officials at [the US Department of Health and Human Services] that are right now developing plans for February and March on vaccine distribution,’ Kessler said on the Tuesday call. ‘Our team cannot communicate with them. We are setting up our recommendations to the president-elect for the same task. The sooner the Biden transition team can meet with officials working on these questions, the more seamlessly the transition will be for the American people.’” [Buzzfeed News, 11/17/20]