“Trump not credible on possible COVID-19,” Kamala Harris says

Democratic U.S. vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris said she would not take President Donald Trump’s word alone on any potential COVID-19 vaccine.

According to an interview excerpt broadcast by CNN on Saturday, Harris said Trump had a track record of suppressing expert opinion about the deadly pandemic and that she worried that might happen again in the case of a prospective vaccine.

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“I would not trust Donald Trump,” Harris said, saying she would be convinced of the efficacy of a vaccine only if someone credible were vouching for it as well.

More than 6 million people have been infected in the U.S. coronavirus outbreak, which has killed 187,833 people, according to a Reuters records.

With the government’s handling of the world’s worst outbreak of the raging virus under close scrutiny, Trump has hanged the possibility that a vaccine might be ready ahead of the Nov. 3 U.S. presidential election.

But Trump has a track record of flouting scientific advice and some experts are skeptical that vaccine trials, which have to study potential side effects on a wide range of people before they can deliver a verdict, can be completed by late this year or even early next year.

Harris suggested to CNN that Trump might seize on a vaccine – no matter how untested – to burnish his image. “He’s looking at an election coming up in less than 60 days and he’s grasping for whatever he can get to pretend he can be a leader on this issue when he’s not,” she said.

In a written statement, the White House said Harris’ suggestion that politics is influencing vaccine approvals “is not only false but is a danger to the American public.”

OnyxNews Nigeria quotes The Wall Street Journal reports on Friday that Harris statement come as several drugmakers developing vaccines are working on a joint pledge not to seek government approval for the shots until they have been proven safe and effective.

The unusual decision comes in the midst of widespread concern that Trump could seek to prompt firms into making any prospective vaccine available before it is ready.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration did not speedily respond to requests for comment.