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- Operation Warp Speed’s Moncef Slaoui said in an interview with the Washington Post that the US Food and Drug Administration should do a “thorough job” reviewing COVID-19 vaccines and that he has “no reason to believe they sped up or slowed down the process.”
- ABC and Axios have reported that White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has summoned the head of the FDA to ask why the agency has not moved faster in approving a vaccine.
- President Donald Trump has reportedly been worried that Joe Biden might “steal” credit for the coronavirus vaccine.
- Slaoui, Trump’s vaccine czar, told the Post that he has only met with the FDA 10 times in the last 7 months. He also said he might resign from his role at Operation Warp Speed after Christmas.
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The head of the Trump administration’s vaccine development agency said the US Food and Drug Administration should do a “thorough job” reviewing COVID-19 vaccines. The president has reportedly expressed frustration over the FDA’s process.
“I think the FDA should be doing a thorough job to make sure the review of the vaccines are complete and in-depth and fully scientifically driven, and then have a good discussion and review with their advisory committee, and come to the appropriate decision,” Moncef Slaoui, the chief science advisor at Operation Warp Speed, said in a Washington Post interview Tuesday morning. “I have no reason to believe they sped up or slowed down the process.”
Slaoui told the Post he has had limited interaction with the FDA ahead of their COVID-19 vaccine review process. He added he only met with the FDA 10 times in the last 7 months, and has “appropriately” set up a firewall between the group and Operation Warp Speed during the review process.
Slaoui’s remarks come shortly after ABC and Axios reported that White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows summoned the head of the FDA to ask why the agency has not moved faster. Peter Marks, the director of the FDA’s coronavirus vaccine review process, previously told Business Insider the review could take “weeks” total as the agency carefully vets the trial data. A panel of outside experts that advises the FDA will convene to discuss Pfizer’s vaccine trial on December 10.
Slaoui took the role heading Operation Warp Speed in May on the condition that politics would not interfere with the development process. Operation Warp Speed donated $3.5 billion to six promising vaccine candidates. Two of which, belonging to pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and biotech upstart Moderna, have filed with the FDA for emergency authorized use.
Trump has touted the efforts of Operation Warp Speed, which has given $955 million to Moderna to advance its clinical trial and $1.95 billion to Pfizer to manufacture and distribute vaccines. Trump has reportedly worried president-elect Joe Biden might "steal" credit for the coronavirus vaccine, which likely will not reach most Americans until mid-2021.
Slaoui told the Post he has not yet met with Biden, but will provide him with information if the president-elect reaches out. He added he might leave the agency as a chief advisor after Christmas, and instead take a "sporadic," supportive role away from the public eye, a decision that has "nothing to do with politics" or the new administration.