Pence breaks silence to take credit for Pfizer vaccine – and drugs company

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.

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 U.S. government, or from anyone.”

Operation Warp Speed is a $12 billion government programme, begun in May, to get 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.

She said she learned of the results from the outside panel of experts shortly after 1pm on Sunday, and that the timing was not influenced by the election. 

“We have always said that science is driving how we conduct ourselves — no politics,” she said.

Albert Bourla, chairman and CEO of Pfizer, on 1 October wrote an open letter to his US colleagues lamenting the fact that a vaccine was being “discussed in political terms rather than scientific facts”, and saying he had been left “disappointed” by the weaponisation of public health.

“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.”  

Joe Biden’s team welcomed the “excellent news”, but reminded people that it was still early days, and taking steps to prevent the spread of the virus – like wearing a face mask – were still the most important thing to remember.