Nine pharmaceutical companies issued a statement Tuesday morning pledging to ensure any potential coronavirus vaccine will undergo strict testing and meet safety compliance standards despite President Trump’s claims that he will rush it to market as soon as next month, USA Today reports.
“We, the undersigned biopharmaceutical companies, want to make clear our on-going commitment to developing and testing potential vaccines for COVID-19 in accordance with high ethical standards and sound scientific principles,” the statement said.
The CEOs of Johnson & Johnson, Merk, Monderna, Novavax, Sanofi, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech. The companies are working independently or in some cases, in partnership with one another, to develop vaccines and therapeutics to treat coronavirus and its associated COVID-19.
The need for such a statement is a reflection of the distrust Trump and his Administration has sown with unrealistic promises about a forthcoming vaccine for the virus. In public statements, Trump continues to push forward the date a vaccine would be available, stating just yesterday that a vaccine would be available by Election Day.
Scientific and medical professionals have stated that the soonest a vaccine could be available for distribution in early 2021. No scientist or research facility believes a vaccine will be available by October.
Trump’s overly optimistic assertions have led to doubt about the veracity of his statements and fear that he would order an unsafe vaccine to market without proper safety testing. Trump may see these promises as a way of minimizing the continued fear, uncertainty and economic impact of the pandemic.
Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Kamala Harris said this weekend that she would be skeptical of any vaccine Trump touts without the backing of the scientific community. Trump responded with an attack claiming she’s endangering lives by sowing doubt about a potential vaccine; in fact, she just said she would not accept Trump’s word solely as the basis for taking a vaccine.