Pence breaks silence to take credit for Pfizer vaccine - and drugs company immediately denies Trump involved
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Trump says he will 'vanquish' coronavirus vaccine
Pence breaks silence to take credit for Pfizer vaccine - and drugs company immediately denies Trump involved
Pfizer has clarified that the US government was not involved in their development of a Covid-19 vaccine

Mike Pence has broken his post-election silence to trumpet the Trump administration’s backing of a new coronavirus vaccine - only for the company to immediately point out that their vaccine had nothing to do with the government.

Pfizer announced on Monday morning that their Covid-19 vaccine was 90 per cent effective, in early trials.

"HUGE NEWS: Thanks to the public-private partnership forged by President @realDonaldTrump, @pfizer announced its Coronavirus Vaccine trial is EFFECTIVE, preventing infection in 90% of its volunteers," tweeted Mr Pence.

Nikki Haley, Mr Trump’s former UN ambassador, also claimed that the Pfizer work was down to Mr Trump, saying: “Many thanks”.

Seemingly unaware that Pfizer had very publicly rejected federal funds, she said: "This will be one of the most important action items done by the administration in response to this pandemic."

But the New York-based company was quick with a clarification.
Dr Kathrin Jansen, Pfizer’s head of vaccine development, told the New York Times: “We were never part of the Warp Speed ... We have never taken any money from the US government, or from anyone.”

Operation Warp Speed is a $12bn (£9.1bn) government programme, begun in May, to supply a vaccine to 300 million Americans.

Pfizer, which developed the vaccine with the German drugmaker BioNTech, did not provide full details from its clinical trial, but experts have hailed it as a significant breakthrough.

Equally significant is the fact that the US-based company - unlike other vaccine front-runners - refused to take government money for research and development, in a bid to preserve their independence.
“The amplified political rhetoric around vaccine development, timing and political credit is undercutting public confidence,” he warned.

"We would never succumb to political pressure. The only pressure we feel — and it weighs heavy — are the billions of people, millions of businesses and hundreds of government officials that are depending on us.
“We’ve engaged with many elected leaders around the globe through this health crisis, but Pfizer took no investment money from any government. Our independence is a precious asset.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election-2020/mike-pence-covid-vaacine-pfizer-b1719698.html

For those giving credit to president trump, it has nothing to do with him, he did not help in any way