Trump touts rapid coronavirus vaccine tests during North Carolina visit
President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, July 27, 2020, for a short trip to Andrews Air Force Base, Md., and then on to Morrisville, N.C. to tour a biotechnology innovation center.
(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump on Monday hailed the progress made so far on the production of a safe vaccine against COVID-19.
Noting an experimental vaccine being developed by Moderna entered a critical stage 3 of testing Monday after the first two stages were largely successful, Trump called the progress “unparalleled.” Moderna is working in conjunction with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
“This is the fastest a vaccine for a novel pathogen has gone by far,” Trump said.
“We will achieve a victory over the virus by unleashing Americans’ scientific genius,” he added.
In this third and final stage, about 30,000 people will be given doses of the drug. If successful, the vaccine could be ready as early as November, federal health officials said.
Trump held a news conference Monday in Morrisville, North Carolina, where he was visiting the Bioprocess Innovation Center at Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, where key components of another potential COVID-19 vaccine are being produced.
Trump said a second experimental vaccine is likely to enter phase 3 in the coming days, and four other candidates will be in phase 3 in the coming weeks, including the one being developed in Morrisville.
Trump said there’s also been significant developments in therapeutic testing to help those with COVID-19 recover more quickly.
“We’ll have some announcements on that in the next couple of weeks,” he said.
