US FDA chief refuses to back Trump's 'year-end' coronavirus vaccine claim

US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) chief refused to back President Donald Trump’s prediction that a COVID-19 vaccine will be ready before year-end. In an interview with ABC News on July 5, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said that he can’t predict when a vaccine for the novel coronavirus will be available after Trump claimed that a vaccine or therapeutic cure will be available “long before” the year-end.

"We are unleashing our nation's scientific brilliance and we'll likely have a therapeutic and/or vaccine solution long before the end of the year," said the US President during his Independence Day address at the White House.

Trump boasted that the US is doing “unbelievably well” in terms of remedies and ahead in vaccines, treatments, and therapeutics. He also thanked scientists and researchers around the country and world working at the forefront of the life-saving treatments and vaccine development.

Read: Donald Trump Claims 99% Coronavirus Cases In US Are 'harmless' As Infections Spike

However, the FDA chief stopped short of backing Trump’s claim when asked about his prediction of a “vaccine solution” before year-end. While Hahn asserted that the country is seeing “unprecedented speed” for vaccine development, he didn’t reveal the timeline of its availability, adding that the authorities will make a decision based on “data and science”.

No comment on Trump's assertion

In another interview with CNN, Hahn refused to comment on Trump’s assertion that 99 per cent of the coronavirus cases are totally harmless. He said that he’s not going to comment on “who is right and who is wrong”. The United States has reported nearly 2.9 million confirmed cases of coronavirus and over 129,000 deaths, the highest numbers worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the countries not taking the pandemic seriously and refusing to allocate resources to combat the health emergency will face a “long and hard road ahead”. During a virtual press briefing, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus accused some nations, without naming them, of adopting a fragmented approach in combating the novel coronavirus.

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