Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, announced on Monday that the vaccine they have been working on is 90% effective in preventing COVID-19.
After the news broke, Vice-President Mike Pence tried to claim credit for the vaccine, saying it was as a result of “the public-private partnership forged by” President Donald Trump.
All that is a lie. The head of vaccine research and development at Pfizer, Dr. Kathrin Jansen told The New York Times that the company was never a part of ‘Operation Warp Speed’. In fact, Dr. Jansen said Pfizer did not take a cent from the government because they wanted to stay as far away as possible from politics.
“We were never part of the Warp Speed … We have never taken any money from the U.S. government, or from anyone,” Jansen said.
As The Times reports: “Dr. Jansen sought to distance the company from Operation Warp Speed and presidential politics, noting that the company — unlike the other vaccine front-runners — did not take any federal money to help pay for research and development.”
President-elect Joe Biden lauded the progress made by Pfizer but urged Americans to continue to wear a mask and practice social distancing.
“America is still losing over 1,000 people a day from COVID-19, and that number is rising — and will continue to get worse unless we make progress on masking and other immediate actions. That is the reality for now, and for the next few months. Today’s announcement promises the chance to change that next year, but the tasks before us now remain the same,” Biden said.
“Americans will have to rely on masking, distancing, contact tracing, hand washing, and other measures to keep themselves safe well into next year. Today’s news is great news, but it doesn’t change that fact,” Biden added.
