Some health experts fear that leaves open the possibility the White House will pressure Hahn and Health and Human Services secretary Alex Azar to approve use of a vaccine before Election Day. The White House pushed back on the idea that politics has come before data. Hahn's apology became a news cycle that spanned several days and irritated White House officials who had not cleared the mea culpa beforehand. Concerned the FDA was being overly cautious in its public messaging, the White House installed Miller as its chief spokesperson. That caught some health officials by surprise because they did not view the authorization as a major development.

Source: CNN September 04, 2020 00:47 UTC