In order to deprive then-President Donald Trump a political victory before voters went to the polls in 2020, 'liberal public health elites' lobbied Pfizer to postpone the fast-track clearance of its COVID-19 vaccine until after the 2020 election, journalist Nate Silver has alleged.
The data-crunching journalist reacted to a Politico article that quoted a House study and said that the Trump administration wanted to speed up authorization for both vaccines and "unproven therapies" for COVID-19.
"Trump pushed for vaccine approvals too fast, is the worst possible critique of the Trump administration's COVID policy. That probably saved a lot of lives. If anything approval should have been faster," tweeted, Silver, publisher of the Disney-owned political news and analysis website FiveThirtyEight.
Health Elites Persuaded Pfizer to Change Its Original Protocols
He also highlighted that the late 2020 push from liberal public health elites that persuaded Pfizer to change its original protocols - and had the convenient side-effect of delaying any vaccine announcement until after the election - deserves more scrutiny.
Pfizer Was Under Intense Pressure
The pharmaceutical giant was under intense pressure by the Trump administration and its allies to announce the success of its vaccine at clinical trials before Nov. 3, 2020. Six days after the election, Pfizer announced that its COVID vaccine was 90% effective, according to The New York Post.
House Democrats looking into the Trump administration's reaction to the pandemic claim that White House officials requested the FDA approve the use of the anti-malaria medication hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID despite the lack of any evidence for this.
Officials from the Trump administration have also been accused with putting political pressure on the FDA to expedite the clearance of vaccines. Officials with Trump have refuted the allegations.
According to Trump, "Operation Warp Speed," the federal programme to create the COVID vaccinations, saved the lives of about 100 million Americans.
He also criticized Pfizer, saying the company was playing "corrupt games" by scheduling the release of their vaccine to undermine his prospects of winning re-election.
The pharmaceutical giant has denied postponing the findings due to political considerations.
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