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Mike Pence slammed for trying to claim unwarranted credit for Pfizer COVID vaccine

Mike Pence slammed for trying to claim unwarranted credit for Pfizer COVID vaccine

https://twitter.com/LabyrinthWeaver/status/1325807481403158548?s=20https://twitter.com/Kimberly10116/status/1325837811417804808?s=20

After pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced today that initial studies have determined that its COVID-19 vaccine is effective at preventing the disease in 90% of its test subjects, the Trump administration fell over itself to rush to claim responsibility.

The nominal head of the administration’s coronavirus task force, Vice President Mike Pence, rushed to post a self-congratulatory boast on Twitter claiming responsibility for the success of the company in its research efforts and attributing the development of the vaccine to Operation Warp Speed, the federal government’s public-private partnership initiative launched to turbo-charge the response to the pandemic.

Pence wasn’t the only Trump administration mouthpiece attempting to transfer the glory of the scientific accomplishment on behalf of Donald Trump.

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley also posted a tweet thanking the administration for its part in Pfizer’s vaccine development work.

https://twitter.com/NikkiHaley/status/1325789592100933633?s=20

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The rush to bask in the accolades, unfortunately, ignores one simple and glaring fact — Pfizer has never accepted a penny of federal money for their research and development of this new vaccine and was not a part of the program that both Pence and Haley cite.

“We were never part of the Warp Speed,” said Kathrin Jansen, a senior vice president and the head of vaccine research and development at Pfizer. “We have never taken any money from the U.S. government, or from anyone.”

Pfizer’s chief executive, Dr. Albert Bourla, explained in an interview with CBS‘s Face The Nation earlier this year why he specifically avoided participating in the Trump administration’s signature COVID-19 vaccine development program.

Of course, it’s easy for a major pharmaceutical company to risk its own money in formulating and testing a vaccine when they have a promise that the federal government will purchase as many as 100 million doses at a cost of nearly $2 billion and ensure a tidy profit for your efforts.

Pfizer’s announcement today concerns just the preliminary results for human studies that will continue to further explore the safety and efficacy of their vaccine for several months longer before any mass production and distribution can begin.

Social media responded to the Trump acolytes’ attempt at taking credit for the progress of this particular vaccine with harsh rebukes.

Luckily, the Trump administration’s efforts to claim stolen valor in this instance can no longer help them win any additional votes with everyone except Donald Trump and his most terrified sycophants already having accepted the reality of a Biden victory in the presidential election.

Hopefully, the new regime will fulfill its promise to manage the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic and get the Pfizer vaccine and any other effective remedy in the pipeline to the American people as quickly, safely, and efficiently as possible, no thanks to the previous people in charge.

Follow Vinnie Longobardo on Twitter. 

Original reporting by Katie Thomas, David Gelles, and

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Vinnie Longobardo
Managing Editor
Vinnie Longobardo is the Managing Editor of Occupy Democrats. He's a 35-year veteran of the TV, mobile & internet industries, specializing in start-ups and the international media business. His passions are politics, music, and art.

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