On the heels of President Biden’s declaration that all American adults be eligible to get the vaccine by May 1st, the White House has hit the accelerator on the vaccination program. Signs are pointing to that May 1st deadline being well within reach, as the country has now crossed the 100 million mark in vaccinations since December. And Friday we learned of a new daily record for doses reported, nearly three million!
As more vaccine supply becomes available, Biden is betting increasing logistical support by mobilizing federal resources will help continue the momentum that has him on pace to top his goal of 100 million vaccinations in 100 days, at least a month ahead of schedule.
Then there are the calls from the right to start giving former President Trump credit for his part in the vaccines. This began with Trump’s statement practically begging for credit for being the driving force behind the vaccines.
Some of Trump’s most fervent supporters are now demanding Biden stop taking all the credit, and give the former president his due.
Let’s clarify a few points here, such as how one vaccine maker, Pfizer, was not even part of the Trump Administration’s Operation Warp Speed.
Also, it was obvious to anyone paying attention in Washington that for the past two months of his tenure, Trump paid attention to little else but his obsession with overturning the election results. He rarely discussed the pandemic or the plans to roll out the vaccine. In fact, he even received the vaccine in January and kept it so hush-hush, not even Dr. Anthony Fauci knew about it. Clearly, combating the pandemic was not a priority for Trump.
It is also true, however, that the partnership between Johnson & Johnson and Merck to create a vaccine that Biden hailed this week did begin with talks that originated with the Trump administration in January. That’s important to point out. It’s also important to spotlight what Merck’s CEO said to The Washington Post about how the Biden White House helped close the deal.
“When the Biden administration came in, they took a new look at this…It’s not a black-or-white situation. We were inclined to do something. They made it more possible for it to happen in a timely way.”
The New York Times has also published a story that suggests the Trump Administration deserves some credit for laying the foundation for the current vaccination program. But what that story, and the Post’s, fails to make note of is how much Trump himself actively worked to hinder the fight against the pandemic.
And, as one twitter user noted, many of the same mainstream outlets asking why Biden doesn’t credit Trump now, weren’t exactly being gracious to Trump about vaccines when he was in office. So what’s changed now?