Trump makes fresh vaccine promises, says he knows better than experts
President Trump is once again claiming there will be a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year, despite having no way of knowing if that's possible.
Apparently 100 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine will be ready before the end of the year, and "we expect to have enough vaccines for every American by April," Trump said in a Friday press conference. Despite Trump's apparent confidence, no vaccine has been proven safe and effective for humans yet, and there's no telling when one will be. Moderna, a company developing a vaccine in the U.S., has found it hard to prove the vaccine candidate's effectiveness as COVID-19 cases decline, but suggested vaccines could be widely available early next year.
Trump's confidence in the matter may stem from his belief that he is the expert in the COVID-19 pandemic, not scientists and doctors. "How is it that you don't trust your own experts? Do you think you know better than they do?" Trump was asked at the Friday conference. "Yeah, in many cases I do," Trump, who has no medical or scientific background, responded.
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Trump also accused Democratic nominee Joe Biden of spreading "anti-vaccine theories," as Biden has suggested Trump is trying to push vaccine development to score political points before the election, perhaps with unsafe consequences. In the past, Trump has spread false claims about the side effects of vaccines.
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