President Trump took to his social media platform Monday with a question for pharmaceutical companies: can they "justify the success" of their COVID-19 vaccines?
- "It is very important that the Drug Companies justify the success of their various Covid Drugs," Trump said in a Truth Social post. "Many people think they are a miracle that saved Millions of lives. Others disagree! With CDC being ripped apart over this question, I want the answer, and I want it NOW."
- Trump added: "I have been shown information from Pfizer, and others, that is extraordinary, but they never seem to show those results to the public. Why not??? They go off to the next 'hunt' and let everyone rip themselves apart, including Bobby Kennedy Jr. and CDC, trying to figure out the success or failure of the Drug Companies Covid work. They show me GREAT numbers and results, but they don't seem to be showing them to many others."
During his first term, Trump championed Operation Warp Speed to speed up vaccine development, ABC News reports. The rollout, however, didn't happen until the Biden administration, and by then, many Trump supporters were strongly opposed to the vaccine, USA Today notes. In his Truth Social post, Trump urged the drug companies to show their results to the CDC and the public to "clear up this MESS, one way or the other!!!" He added: "I hope OPERATION WARP SPEED was as 'BRILLIANT' as many say it was. If not, we all want to know about it, and why???"
Trump's demand as the CDC faces internal upheaval following recent policy revisions related to vaccine access. Last week, the FDA announced new restrictions on updated COVID vaccines. It's not clear exactly what data Trump wants the companies to release, ABC reports. Independent studies have credited COVID-19 vaccination campaigns with saving millions of lives during the pandemic.
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