President Trump announced a vaccine distribution plan Wednesday and predicted availability as early as October, directly contradicting a much longer timeline offered earlier in the day by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director.
Dr. Robert Redfield told a panel of Senate lawmakers not to expect a coronavirus vaccine to become widely available to most of the U.S. population until the summer of 2021 -- publicly rebuffing Trump’s repeated assertion that a vaccine might be available before the November election.
"I think he made a mistake when he said that. It's just incorrect information," Trump said Wednesday in response to a question from Fox News' John Roberts. "I believe he was confused."
CDC'S REDFIELD CONTRADICTS TRUMP ADMIN ON COVID VACCINE TIMING, SAYS SOMETIME IN 2021
Trump also refuted Redfield’s statements that wearing a mask may be more important than a potential vaccine because there’s clear scientific evidence they work.
"I might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against Covid than when I take a Covid vaccine,” Redfield said, holding up his face mask before the Senate panel.
Trump said he spoke to Redfield afterwards and thinks the CDC director could have confused the question and answered "incorrectly."
"I think maybe he misunderstood it," Trump said, adding that "the mask is a mixed bag."
In an apparent attempt to clarify his comments on Wednesday, Redfield tweeted later that a "vaccine is the thing that will get Americans back to normal everyday life," but also reiterated that the best defense against the contagion currently is wearing a mask.
The coronavirus contradictions came as Trump confirmed at least one of his White House staffers tested positive for the virus. Trump didn't name the aide but said "it's not anybody that was near me."
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/tru...e-was-confused
Just making stuff up for election purposes.
Fifty-two percent of adults say they don't trust the president's vaccine comments, while just 26 percent say they do. Twenty percent say they are "not aware" whether they trust what the president has said about a vaccine.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/202...covid-n1240080