New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday said it was “bad news” that a potential coronavirus vaccine has been developed while President Trump is in office.
The New York Democrat also said that he is working with other governors to potentially “stop” the Trump administration’s plan to distribute vaccines for coronavirus, saying that its current design is “flawed.”
Como was responding to Pfizer’s announcement on Monday that its coronavirus vaccine has proved 90% effective during clinical trials. The trial results are a potential game-changer in the fight against the virus, which has caused nearly 240,000 deaths in the U.S. this year.
“The good news is the Pfizer tests look good and we’ll have a vaccine shortly. The bad news is that it’s about two months before Joe Biden takes over and that means this administration is going to be implementing a vaccine plan,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo did not specify his complaint about the administration’s coronavirus rollout plan.
He asserted that the current plan will be “slow” and will “bypass” patients who do not have easy access to hospitals, physicians and drug stores.
Cuomo said he has been talking to other U.S. governors about “how can we shape the Trump Administration vaccine plan to fix it or stop it before it does damage.”
Cuomo has cast doubt in the past on any vaccine developed during the Trump administration. He also formed a task force in September that he said would review and test any vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration before distributing it in New York.
“I don’t believe the American people are that confident,” Cuomo said in an interview on ABC News on Oct. 19.
“I think it’s going to be a very skeptical American public about taking a vaccine, and they should be.”
Despite Cuomo’s complaints about the vaccine rollout plan, the Trump administration has said it will prioritize distribution of a vaccine to people who are at higher risk of severe illness due to the virus.
The Department of Health and Human Services announced on Oct. 16 that it has partnered with CVS and Walgreens to provide vaccines to residents of long-term care facilities with no out-of-pocket cost to the patients.
Cuomo has come under fire over a policy he implemented in March that required hospitals to send nursing home residents hospitalized with coronavirus back to their long-term care facilities. Cuomo implemented the policy in order to clear up hospital bed space to deal with what health officials expected to be a massive tidal wave of coronavirus patients.
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