It was going to take a long time, and Dr. Stephen Hahn, the head of the FDA, gave us an early approval, a very quick approval, a 24-hour approval.”Except that’s not how the FDA’s approval process is supposed to work. Trump welcomed Hahn to a news conference, at which Trump’s claims about the treatment’s prospects were characteristically over the top. And now the very significant public pressure for the FDA to do what Trump says is now in full view. Getting Republicans to take the vaccines is generally the bigger hurdle, and they will likely be less concerned about the prospect of Trump having applied pressure on the process. Trump on Friday yet again made clear he’s applying pressure to move the process along faster, which isn’t terribly helpful when it comes to allaying any lingering concerns.

Source: Washington Post December 11, 2020 16:36 UTC