US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has condemned a Twitter tirade made earlier by President Donald Trump in regards to delays to the vaccine’s delivery and the FDA's withdrawal of authorisation to use hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine on COVID-19 patients.
"The FDA has a responsibility to approve drugs judging on their safety and efficacy, not by a declaration from the White House about speed and politicising the FDA. This was a very dangerous statement on the part of the president. Even for him, it went beyond the pale", Pelosi stated.
The Democratic House speaker went on to accuse the president of jeopardising "the health and wellbeing" of US citizens.
Trump Rips 'Deep State' for Using Vaccine in Political Schemes
POTUS earlier accused "deep state" forces of intentionally stalling the process of conducting tests for the coronavirus vaccine and therapeutics at the Food and Drug Administration. Trump complained that drug companies have to go through a complicated process in order to recruit people for trials and alleged that this is being done with the intention for a vaccine to be delivered only after the November presidential election is over.
The deep state, or whoever, over at the FDA is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics. Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd. Must focus on speed, and saving lives! @SteveFDA
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2020
The president went on to condemn the FDA's refusal to allow further treatment of those who have contracted the coronavirus with hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine over concerns that the drugs have no effect on the disease and the patients' recovery, while having significant side effects. Trump alleged that "many doctors and studies disagree" with such an evaluation of the two drugs' effectiveness.
While there are several therapeutics and potential vaccines against COVID-19 being developed by American pharmaceutical companies, they are yet to undergo the final phases of trials, which require large numbers of human volunteers to prove that the drugs are safe and effective. Recently, Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute registered the first coronavirus vaccine in the world, having based its development on earlier vaccines using the adenovirus as the vector to deliver the COVID-19 genome into a human body. However, the US dismissed the idea of buying it, with President Trump hinting that domestic equivalents may become available before the crucial 3 November election day.
