President Donald Trump is offering praise after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued emergency use authorization for Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine.
In a video posted to Twitter on Friday, Trump said, “Today our nation has achieved a medical miracle.”
He continued, “We have delivered a safe and effective vaccine in just nine months. This is one of the greatest scientific accomplishments in history. It will save millions of lives and soon end the pandemic once and for all.”
The president also applauded those who worked to make “this all possible.”
“On behalf of the American people, I’d like to thank all of the brilliant scientists, technicians, doctors and workers who made this all possible.”
In the press release announcing the emergency use authorization of the first coronavirus vaccine, FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn called it “a significant milestone in battling this devastating pandemic that has affected so many families in the United States and around the world.”
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Additionally, FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Peter Marks said in a statement, “While not an FDA approval, today’s emergency use authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine holds the promise to alter the course of this pandemic in the United States.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) also applauded scientists and doctors following the news of the FDA’s authorization.
She wrote in a statement late Friday, “Today’s Emergency Use Authorization of the Pfizer vaccine is a tribute to the tireless efforts of scientists and doctors who have worked around the clock to ensure that we have a vaccine that is effective and safe.”
The House speaker also encouraged Americans to have “full confidence in this vaccine.”
She added, “Now, with tonight’s FDA authorization, we must ensure that the vaccine will be free and distributed in a fair and equitable manner to as many Americans as possible as soon as possible.” Pelosi also called for the Defense Production Act to be invoked.
“Until the vaccine is widely available, it is essential that we continue to embrace the testing, tracing, treatment, mask wearing and social distancing that are essential to preventing thousands of Americans from dying every day from the pandemic,” Pelosi wrote.
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted Dec. 2-8, it found that women in the U.S. are more hesitant to get the coronavirus vaccine than men. While roughly 55% of women surveyed said they would be “very” or “somewhat” interested in getting the vaccine, 68% of men said they would.
This comes as the U.S. continues to combat the coronavirus pandemic. There have been 207,816 COVID-19 cases on average reported per day over the past week. This is a 25% increase from the two weeks prior, according to The New York Times.