FDA Commissioner Faces Pressure from White House Over COVID-19 Vaccine Approval

Strategic Insights -

FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn met with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows for the second day in a row on Wednesday, amid growing frustration from President Trump and White House officials over the delayed approval of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine in the US. The meeting comes as the UK became the first country to approve the vaccine for use, leaving the US trailing behind. The President wants to get as many people vaccinated as possible before January, when he leaves office, in order to get credit for the vaccine process. Meanwhile, FDA officials are defending the agency's process for approving the vaccine, stating that career scientists need time to make the right call on this important decision.

Key Takeaways:

  • FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn met with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows for the second day in a row on Wednesday, amid growing frustration from President Trump over the delayed approval of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine in the US.
  • The meeting comes as the UK became the first country to approve the vaccine for use, leaving the US trailing behind.
  • President Trump wants to get as many people vaccinated as possible before January, when he leaves office, in order to get credit for the vaccine process.
  • FDA officials are defending the agency's process for approving the vaccine, stating that career scientists need time to make the right call on this important decision.
  • Pfizer applied for emergency use authorization on November 20, and the FDA has scheduled a meeting of its outside advisory panel to discuss the application for December 10.
  • The FDA has not yet granted emergency use authorization for the vaccine, but has noted that it is not the same as full approval and allows products to be used under particular circumstances before all the evidence is available for approval.

Statistics:

  • The UK became the first country to approve the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for use on Wednesday, leaving the US trailing behind.
  • The FDA has scheduled a meeting of its outside advisory panel to discuss Pfizer and BioNTech's application for emergency use authorization for December 10.
  • Pfizer applied for emergency use authorization on November 20.
  • The FDA has not yet granted emergency use authorization for the vaccine.

Sources:

  • "FDA's Hahn meets with White House officials amid vaccine approval delay," CNN, 2020.
  • "Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine gets green light from US FDA's advisory panel," CNN, 2020.
  • "FDA officials defend the vaccine approval process, saying career scientists need time to make the right call," CNN, 2020.