CNN is reporting that White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows called Food and Drug Administration Director Stephen Hahn to say that Hahn must authorize the emergency use of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine “by the end of the day” Friday or resign.
The vaccine cleared the first step to getting emergency use authorization yesterday, as one FDA panel approved the use of the vaccine. According to the New York Times, the FDA was expected to issue authorization Saturday after standard administrative procedures, barring any regulatory issues that may arise.
It’s unclear why the White House would want the authorization to be pushed forward for anything other than PR reasons: a lawsuit by the state of Texas filed in the Supreme Court to void tens of millions of American votes, thereby handing the election to lame duck president Donald Trump, is expected to be rejected by SCOTUS Friday.