It has become an obsession with Donald Trump, writes the Washington Post. He wants a vaccine before Election Day, hoping to change the opinions of a wide swath of the electorate who believe he has done a terrible job of managing the pandemic.
“We remain on track to deliver a vaccine before the end of the year and maybe even before November 1st,” Trump told reporters at a Friday news conference. “We think we can probably have it some time during the month of October.”
Trump has repeatedly offered similar promises, adding to the pressure scientists and officials at the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health feel to develop, test and authorize a coronavirus vaccine on what some of the president’s aides refer to as “Trump time.”
One key to winning reelection, aides tell the Post, is having a vaccine or major progress towards one.
But voters in a new CBS News poll say by an almost 2-1 margin they don’t want a vaccine rushed.
The poll also showed “…more than two third of Americans, 70%, would either wait to see what happens when others got the shot or would never get one. Fewer than one in three would get the vaccine right away.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci told the Post that it is “unlikely, although possible” that the efficacy and safety of a vaccine could be determined by October, although it’s more likely to be November, December or early in 2021.