Trump insists coronavirus will 'go away at some point' even without a vaccine

(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

last updated 15 May 2020

Pandemic be darned, the U.S. is coming back.

That's the message President Trump sent in a Friday press conference where he named two new leaders in America's coronavirus vaccine development project. While Trump said the "Project Warp Speed" team would deliver a vaccine "by the end of the year or shortly thereafter," he also said that "with or without a vaccine, we're back."

Trump has been ready to reopen much of the U.S. for weeks now, even though experts — including those on Trump's own coronavirus task force — warn it could lead to even more deaths without a vaccine or proper safety measures. But even as Trump praised the two new members of the government's vaccination development projects, Dr. Moncef Slaoui and Gen. Gustave Perna, he suggested the U.S. didn't even need the vaccine to get back to business — or to get rid of the coronavirus. "It'll go away at some point," Trump said. "Other things have never had a vaccine, and they go away."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox