Top Trump officials are in disarray and contradicting each other over coronavirus response as outlook worsens
On Tuesday, Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana questioned Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf as well as Health Secretary Alex M. Azar about the coronavirus outbreak. Kennedy wanted to know how soon a coronavirus vaccine could be expected, and Azar’s testimony contradicted Wolf’s.
Azar told Kennedy, “We could, within a year, have a vaccine. But we want to…. put multiple vaccine candidates out there. We have a million dollars of proposed investment in vaccine.”
Kennedy noted that ten minutes earlier, Wolf had told him that a vaccine could be expected in “a month and a half” — and Azar responded, “One could not develop a vaccine in a month and a half. That’s never happened in human history.”
Kennedy recommended, “Maybe you ought to talk to the secretary of Homeland Security before he spreads that too far.”
Sen. Kennedy asks Health Sec. Azar how long to create a coronavirus vaccine. Azar says could have one within a YEAR… https://t.co/oqZR3bTtFP— Michael McAuliff (@Michael McAuliff) 1582648843.0
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), coronavirus had claimed at least 2700 lives as of Tuesday afternoon, February 25.
