Mike Pence has broken his post-election silence to trumpet the Trump administration’s backing of a new coronavirus vaccine – only for the company to immediately point out that their vaccine had nothing to do with the government.
Pfizer announced on Monday morning that their Covid-19 vaccine was 90 per cent effective, in early trials.
“HUGE NEWS: Thanks to the public-private partnership forged by President @realDonaldTrump, @pfizer announced its Coronavirus Vaccine trial is EFFECTIVE, preventing infection in 90% of its volunteers,” tweeted Mr Pence.
But the New York-based company was quick with a clarification.
Dr Kathrin Jansen, Pfizer’s head of vaccine development, told the New York Times: “We were never part of the Warp Speed … We have never taken any money from the U.S. government, or from anyone.”
Operation Warp Speed is a $12 billion government programme, begun in May, to get a vaccine to 300 million Americans.
Pfizer, which developed the vaccine with the German drugmaker BioNTech, did not provide full details from its clinical trial, but experts have hailed it as a significant breakthrough.
Equally significant is the fact that the US-based company – unlike other vaccine front-runners – refused to take government money for research and development, in a bid to preserve their independence.
She said she learned of the results from the outside panel of experts shortly after 1pm on Sunday, and that the timing was not influenced by the election.
“We have always said that science is driving how we conduct ourselves — no politics,” she said.
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