唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)总统的连任竞选中，研发新型冠状病毒疫苗的竞赛占据了中心位置，因为他坚持在周二做出乐观预测，声称“很快”就会有一种疫苗问世
用选举不到两个月的时间里，总统的民调数字因其对流感大流行的处理而受到审查，特朗普已经习惯于在选举日之前反复宣传疫苗的可能性，尽管他的支持率很高健康专家警告说这不太可能。
“你可能会有一个非常大的惊喜。我相信你会很开心的。但是人民会幸福的。特朗普周一在白宫台阶上举行的劳动节新闻发布会上对记者表示:“全世界的人民都会感到高兴。”“我们很快就会有疫苗，甚至可能在一个非常特殊的日期之前。你知道我在说什么日期，”特朗普说，尽管他指责他的民主党对手用疫苗玩“危险”的政治。
总统周一的建议只是一系列嘲笑早期疫苗可能性的评论中的最新一个，与高级卫生官员的说法相矛盾。
曼德尔·颜/法新社通过盖蒂图像
2020年9月7日，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在DC华盛顿白宫北门廊的劳动节新闻发布会上发表讲话。
蒙斯·斯劳伊(Monce Slaoui)是监督政府努力加速生产一种被称为“曲速行动”的冠状病毒疫苗的首席科学家，他上周对NPR说，“这种可能性极小，但并非不可能。”
斯劳伊说:“目前正在进行的试验在10月底之前(完成)的可能性非常非常小，因此，如果紧急使用授权所需的所有其他条件都得到满足，就有可能获得批准。”
其他高级官员，包括美国国家卫生研究院的安东尼·福奇博士和卫生局局长杰罗姆·亚当斯也同样警告说，在11月之前接种疫苗的可能性不大。
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在一个采访福奇在接受《纽约客》采访时说，他担心疫苗科学是如何向公众传播的。
“我从来不喜欢‘曲速’这个术语，”他说，指的是特朗普给这个项目起的“曲速行动”这个名字。“它错误地暗示你在匆忙行事。每当人们听到事情被匆忙处理，他们就担心安全。他们认为你过早地把不完全安全的东西放在那里，”福西说，他说“速度”指的是政府承诺在疫苗被证实之前购买数百万剂疫苗。福奇告诉该杂志:“如果一种疫苗不起作用，你已经损失了几亿美元。”“如果它确实有效，如果它是安全有效的，你就省下了四、五、六个月等待给人们注射疫苗的时间。这是巨大的。”
乔纳森·恩斯特/路透社
2020年8月27日，共和党全国代表大会结束前几小时，民主党副总统候选人卡马拉·哈里斯在华盛顿发表竞选演说。
但是，不管科学现实如何，总统坚持不懈的言辞已经把这个问题摆在了竞选的前沿和中心。民主党候选人对总统的乐观预测持怀疑态度。
民主党副总统候选人参议员卡马拉·哈里斯在接受美国有线电视新闻网采访时说，她“不会信任唐纳德·特朗普“如果疫苗在选举日之前获得批准，就更不用说了。”
“我认为这将是我们所有人的问题。我要说的是，我不会相信唐纳德·特朗普，而这必须是一个可信的信息来源，可以证明他所说的任何东西的有效性和可靠性。我不会相信他的话。”
前副总统乔·拜登同样表示，他“想看看科学家们怎么说”，并且需要“疫苗完全透明。”
但是，尽管民主党人警告说，特朗普总统在疫苗问题上的言论是在玩弄政治，但总统反驳说，是民主党人通过提出质疑来进行“危险的”政治言论。
特朗普在周一回应哈里斯的言论时说:“他们说的话对我们的国家非常危险，但疫苗将非常安全、非常有效。”哈里斯表示，如果总统宣布疫苗在没有科学依据的情况下准备好，她不会相信他的话。
在围绕疫苗准备日期的政治压力背景下，9家致力于开发疫苗的公司周二达成了一项不同寻常的协议，明确表示不会仓促行事，并承诺在疫苗开发竞赛中坚持严格标准。
“我们相信，这一承诺将有助于确保公众对严格的科学和监管程序的信心，通过这一程序，新冠肺炎疫苗将得到评估，并可能最终获得批准，”协议写道，首席执行官们承诺遵循“高道德标准和健全的科学原则。”
就特朗普总统而言，他否认自己将疫苗政治化，尽管他坚持发表声明，预测疫苗可能在超过顶级专家预测的时间内准备好。
“不，我这么说是因为我们想拯救很多生命。越快——对我来说，越快越好。对其他人来说，也许他们会在政治上这么说，但我是说，这是我们需要的。我们必须这样。如果我们能尽早得到疫苗，那将是一件大事。不管是不是政治，”特朗普周一表示。
白宫办公厅主任马克·梅多斯(Mark Meadows)站出来为总统辩护，回应了他的乐观态度，即“我们将在10月底之前有所作为”，并驳斥了总统正在对科学施加政治压力的说法。
“当我们看到并试图暗示总统把他的手指放在美国食品和药物管理局或国家卫生研究院或其他任何东西，事实就是不支持这一点。许多花言巧语支持它，但事实并非如此，”梅多斯说。
Trump makes rosy vaccine timing front and center in campaign, predicting it's possible before Election Day
The race to develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus has taken center stage in President Donald Trump's reelection campaign as he persisted in making rosy predictions on Tuesday, claiming one would be available "very soon."
With theelectionless than two months away, and the president’s poll numbers suffering under scrutiny over his handling of the pandemic, Trump has taken to repeatedly hyping the possibility of a vaccine before Election Day, despite tophealthexperts having cautioned that it’s unlikely.
“You could have a very big surprise coming up. I’m sure you’ll be very happy. But the people will be happy. The people of the world will be happy,” Trump told reporters Monday in a Labor Day press conference from the steps of the White House. “We’re going to have a vaccine very soon, maybe even before a very special date. You know what date I’m talking about,” Trump said, even as he accused his Democratic opponents of playing "dangerous" politics with a vaccine.
The president’s suggestion on Monday was just the latest in a series of comments teasing the possibility of an early vaccine in contradiction of what top health officials have said.
President Donald Trump speaks during a labor day press conference at the North Portico of the White House in Washington, DC, Sept. 7, 2020.
Monce Slaoui, the chief scientific overseeing the administration's effort to accelerate production of a coronavirus vaccine known as Operation Warp Speed, told NPR last week "extremely unlikely, but not impossible.”
"There is a very, very low chance that the trials that are running as we speak could [be completed] before the end of October and therefore there could be -- if all other conditions required for an Emergency Use Authorization are met -- an approval," Slaoui said.
Other top officials, including NIH’s Dr. Anthony Fauci and Surgeon General Jerome Adams have similarly cautioned that the prospect of a vaccine before November is not probable.
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In aninterviewwith The New Yorker, Fauci said he worries about how vaccine science is being communicated to the public.
“I never liked the ‘warp speed’ terminology,” he said, referring to the "Operation Warp Speed" name Trump has given to the project. “It suggests, incorrectly, that you’re rushing things. Whenever people hear things are being rushed, they worry about safety. They think you’re prematurely putting something out there that isn’t entirely safe," Fauci said, saying the speed refers to the government committing to buying millions of doses of vaccines before they are proven. “If a vaccine doesn’t work, you’ve lost a few hundred million dollars,” Fauci told the magazine. “If it does work, if it’s safe and effective, you’ve saved four, five, six months of waiting to get people the vaccine. That’s huge.”
Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris delivers a campaign speech in Washington, Aug. 27, 2020, hours before the conclusion of the Republican National Convention.
But whatever the scientific realities, the president’s persistent rhetoric has put the issue front and center in the campaign. The Democratic ticket has countered the president’s optimistic projection with a dose of skepticism.
Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris said in an interview with CNN that she would "not trustDonald Trump" alone if a vaccine were to be approved before Election Day.
"Well I think that’s going to be an issue for all of us. I will say that I would not trust Donald Trump and it would have to be a credible source of information that talks about the efficacy and the reliability of whatever he’s talking about. I will not take his word for it,” Harris said.
Former Vice President Joe Biden similarly said he would “want to see what the scientists said" and that there would need to be “full transparency on the vaccine.”
But while the Democrats warn President Trump is playing politics with his rhetoric on the vaccine, the president counters that it’s the Democrats who are engaging in “dangerous” political rhetoric by raising doubts.
“It’s so dangerous for our country, what they say, but the vaccine will be very safe and very effective,” Trump said Monday, responding to Harris’ comments that she wouldn’t take the president’s word for it if he announced a vaccine was ready without scientific backing.
Against the backdrop of the political pressure surrounding the vaccine ready date, nine companies working to develop a vaccine came forward with an unusual pact Tuesday making it clear they will not be rushed and pledging to adhere to strict standards in the race to develop a vaccine.
“We believe this pledge will help ensure public confidence in the rigorous scientific and regulatory process by which COVID-19 vaccines are evaluated and may ultimately be approved,” the pact reads, with the CEOs pledging to follow “high ethical standards and sound scientific principles.”
President Trump, for his part, denies that he is politicizing the vaccine even as he persists in making statements projecting that it could be ready on a timeline that outstrips what top experts have projected.
"No, I'm saying that because we want to save a lot of lives. The fast --With me, it's the faster the better. With somebody else, maybe they would say it politically, but I'm saying it in terms of this is what we need. We have to have. If we get the vaccine early, it's a great things. Whether it's politics or not,” Trump said Monday.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows came to the president’s defense in echoing his optimism that “we will have something by the end of October” and dismissed the notion that the president is putting political pressure on science.
“When we look at and trying to suggest that the president is putting his finger on the FDA or NIH or anything else, the facts just do not back that up. Lots of rhetoric backs it up, but the facts do not,” Meadows said.
