CDC Director Says COVID Vaccine Likely Won’t Be Widely Available Until Next Year

Enlarge this image


CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield says wearing a mask may provide better protection against COVID-19 than a vaccine.





Andrew Harnik/AP



hide caption



toggle caption


Andrew Harnik/AP



Goats and Soda
A User’s Guide To Masks: What’s Best At Protecting Others (And Yourself)

Redfield; along with Adm. Brett Giroir, head of the Trump administration’s testing effort; and Bob Kadlec, who heads the Department of Health and Human Services preparedness and response efforts; appeared before a Senate subcommittee on response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Redfield said a vaccine might become available in November or December for first responders, but not widely available until «the second or third quarter of next year. He later testified that it would take six to nine months after a vaccine was approved before it could be distributed nationally.



Shots — Health News
Coronavirus Maps: How Severe Is Your State’s Outbreak?

The CDC director also defended the integrity of scientists at the agency, after accusations by a leading HHS official that there was a «resistance unit of scientists, calling them guilty of «sedition.

Redfield said that «not only is it not true, it deeply saddened me when I read those comments.

«CDC is made up of thousands of dedicated men and women, highly competent, it is the premier public health agency in the world, he added.

The top spokesman for HHS Michael Caputo, who is now on leave, alleged in a Facebook Live broadcast this week that government scientists were working to undermine the Trump administration.



Shots — Health News
A COVID-19 Vaccine May Be Only 50% Effective. Is That Good Enough?

Redfield also denied that a key HHS report, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, had been altered or amended to cast the Trump administration in a more favorable light.

«The scientific integrity of the MMWR has not been compromised, it will not be compromised on my watch, Redfield vowed.

Politico first reported, and NPR later confirmed, that Caputo and his scientific adviser Paul Alexander sought to review to the reports prior to publication.

HHS announced Wednesday that Caputo would be taking a 60-day leave of absence to «focus on his health and the well-being of his family and that Alexander will be leaving the department.


Consider This from NPR
Why Are So Many Americans Hesitant To Get A COVID-19 Vaccine?


Why Are So Many Americans Hesitant To Get A COVID-19 Vaccine?





Listen

·
12:50





12:50



Toggle more options

• Download
  


• 
  Embed
  
  
  
  Embed
  
  
  
  <iframe src=https://www.npr.org/player/embed/909669962/911446946″ width=100% height=290″ frameborder=0″ scrolling=no title=NPR embedded audio player>
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  Transcript
  
  

Consider This podcast tile





NPR



hide caption



toggle caption


NPR


subscribe
to
Consider This from NPR
podcast

• 
  
  NPR One


• 
  Apple Podcasts


• 
  Google Podcasts


• 
  Pocket Casts


• 
  Spotify


• 
  RSS link

In her opening remarks, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the panel, blasted President Trump, referring to reporting in Bob Woodward’s new book about what Trump knew about the virus versus what he said publicly.

«I was deeply angered last week to hear President Trump admitting that even though he understood COVID-19 was even more deadly than your strenuous flu, that’s a quote, he was intentionally playing down the crisis, she said.

Giroir testified that since Memorial Day peaks, the number of new COVID cases is down 19%, the number of hospitalizations is down 49% and the number of deaths is down 33%. But Giroir testified that «these gains could be fleeting or even reversed if people stop wearing masks and avoiding crowds.

Over 190,000 Americans have died from COVID, and the death toll is expected to surpass 200,000 later this week.