US Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris faced each other in a vice presidential debate.
US Senator Kamala Harris branded the response to the COVID-19 pandemic under US President Donald Trump as the "greatest failure" of any US administration, as the debate between her and Vice President Mike Pence opened today.
But Mike Pence fired back by accusing Ms Harris of undermining public confidence in a future coronavirus vaccine through her attacks on Donald Trump's credibility.
"The American people have witnessed what is the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country," Ms Harris, running mate to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, said.
"If the public health professionals, if Dr Fauci, if the doctors tell us that we should take it, I'll be the first in line to take it absolutely, but if Donald Trump tells us to take it, I'm not taking it," Kamala Harris said on the vaccine.
The US death count from the pandemic has exceeded 210,000, with over 7.5 million people infected, the highest reported totals in the world.
Mr Pence slammed Ms Harris for her statements questioning whether a vaccine released under Donald Trump could be trusted due to the intense pressure on the president to tame the pandemic.
"The fact that you continue to undermine public confidence in a vaccine, if the vaccine emerges during the Trump administration, I think is unconscionable," Mike Pence said.
