WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Friday wrongly claimed full credit for Pfizer Inc.s announcement that its COVID-19 vaccine was robustly successful, misrepresenting the extent of government support behind the companys efforts.
A look at the claim, made during his first public remarks since his defeat by President-elect Joe Biden:
TRUMP: As a result of Operation Warp Speed, Pfizer announced on Monday that its China virus vaccine was more than 90% effective. …Pfizer said it wasnt part of Warp Speed, but that turned out to be an unfortunate misrepresentation.
THE FACTS: Not so much. Pfizer notably did not accept government money to develop, test or expand manufacturing capacity under Trumps Operation Warp Speed initiative to quickly find a vaccine and treatments for the disease sweeping the country.
In fact, Pfizer partnered with the vaccines original developer, Germanys BioNTech, in March and the following month announced the first human study in Germany. The White House announced Operation Warp Speed in May.
Pfizer opted not to join Operation Warp Speed initially but is following the same general requirements for the vaccines development as competitors who received government research money. The company says it has risked $2 billion of its own money on vaccine development and wont get anything from Washington unless the effort is successful.
Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine development and manufacturing costs have been entirely self-funded, Pfizer spokeswoman Jerica Pitts said this week. We decided to self-fund our efforts so we could move as fast as possible.
However, Pfizer did sign an agreement with the U.S. government in July worth $1.95 billion if the vaccine pans out and is cleared by the FDA to supply 100 million doses. That guarantees Pfizer a U.S. market, an important incentive.
The supply side of Operation Warp Speed also allows Pfizer logistical help, although the company will directly ship its own vaccine, while the government will control shipping of other COVID-19 vaccines.
Pfizers announcement does not mean a vaccine has been approved and will immediately hit the market.
The next step for Pfizer would be to apply for emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration, probably later this month, which would allow for limited distribution before it seeks full FDA approval for wider use by the general public in 2021. Neither step is guaranteed to happen.
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EDITOR’S NOTE A look at the veracity of claims by political figures.
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