The chief science adviser to the Trump administration’s coronavirus vaccine development program expressed worry Sunday over continued public skepticism about immunization safety, blaming politics, in part, for some Americans’ reluctance to receive a shot.
“I’m very, very concerned about the hesitancy (to receive a vaccine) as it exists and I think it’s very unfortunate because this has been exacerbated by the political context under which we have worked very hard,” Dr. Moncef Slaoui, Operation Warp Speed’s chief science adviser said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Slaoui’s comments come at a time when over 40% of Americans indicated they are unwilling to receive a Food and Drug Administration-authorized vaccine to prevent COVID-19, according to a recent Gallup poll. Simultaneously, the stand-off over President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede the election to President-elect Joe Biden shrouds the continued vaccine development operation in politics.
On “This Week,” Slaoui, who has pledged to remain apolitical while advising the Warp Speed project, said that he is “concerned with anything that could derail the process.” He then confirmed he has not yet had contact with Biden’s team.
“Wouldn’t that help ensure a seamless transition from one administration to another?” asked ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos.
“We’re here to serve. If people want to contact us, of course we will be available,” Slaoui said, while noting that “the rules are such that confidential information needs to be kept with the federal employees.”
“But otherwise, of course, I’d be happy to be contacted and explain what we’re doing, as I’m doing it now, to all the public,” he continued.
Two companies, Moderna and Pfizer, reported early data last week indicating that their respective vaccines were over 90% effective without serious side effects — results that White House Coronavirus Task Force member Dr. Anthony Fauci labeled “extraordinary” at a press conference Thursday.
Slaoui echoed that characterization Sunday, drawing on decades of experience in vaccine research as he described the work of the pharmaceutical companies at the forefront of the breakthroughs.
“The vaccines have been developed as thoroughly and as scientifically as ever,” he said. “I’ve been doing this for more than 30 years, this vaccine development is not different than any other, except that we have gone at an incredibly fast speed with incredible resources.”
News of the early data arrived as the United States continues to experience a nationwide surge in coronavirus cases. In the past seven days, well over 1 million Americans were diagnosed with COVID-19 and more than 10,000 have died from the virus — the largest number of deaths in one week since late April, according to the COVID Tracking Project. This week, the nation’s total death toll from the virus since February eclipsed 250,000.
On Friday, Pfizer submitted an emergency use application for its vaccine to the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA is scheduled to discuss potential authorization on Dec. 10. Slaoui said Sunday that Moderna is planning to file its application by the end of the month and the FDA will evaluate it on Dec. 17.
Trump has criticized Pfizer — which, unlike Moderna, did not receive federal funding for its research through Operation Warp Speed but instead committed, over the summer, to sell the government 100 million doeses for $2 billion — claiming multiple times, without evidence, that it delayed its vaccine data until after the election in retaliation for Trump’s efforts to lower drug prices.
“Do you have any evidence of that?” Stephanopoulos asked Slaoui on Sunday.
“I don’t think any specific action has taken place to delay the vaccine,” the doctor said.
Slaoui added that Pfizer’s timeline was, in part, dictated by a “60-day follow up after completion of immunization” to understand “the short-term and the predictable, long-term safety of the vaccine,” calling it “an appropriate decision.”
Both Slaoui and Gen. Gustave Perna, Operation Warp Speed’s chief operating officer, have said that immunizations could begin as soon as 24 hours after approval is granted. Health care workers and individuals considered at-risk, due to age or pre-existing conditions, are likely to be the first to receive inoculations. Slaoui told ABC News last month, prior to the Moderna and Pfizer news, that the government was planning to immunize most Americans by June 2021. He urged Americans on Sunday not to hesitate.
“I feel very comfortable that these vaccines are safe. I’d be happy to take the vaccine, I’ll be happy to have my children out or my parents have the vaccine,” he said. “And we will be totally transparent with every single bit of data and information that we know about the vaccine for everybody to listen.”
“The key, frankly, is, please don’t make up your mind before you listen to all the information that the FDA, and that the CDC, and that all independent experts in the country will be able to look into and advise you,” Slaoui added.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
