Azar Says Vaccine Availability Likely for Priority Populations by Year’s End

Pending FDA approval or authorization, the HHS Secretary said Friday he anticipates having enough vaccine manufactured by the end of 2020 to vaccinate certain priority populations and enough to vaccinate all Americans by March to April 2021.

Meanwhile, he said, trials for other promising therapeutics continue, with the FDA having reviewed more than 310 clinical trials for treatments.

His promises come amid growing concerns that the Trump administration has interfered with and compromised FDA and CDC officials over COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics. But HHS Secretary Alex Azar assured members of a House subcommittee Friday that Americans should be confident in any vaccines that get approved by the FDA.

“My highest priority will always be to ensure that our efforts are science- and evidence-driven and consistent with the rule of law,” said Azar in an appearance before the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis. “Institutions like the CDC and NIH are household names and gold standards for good science, and I intend to keep it that way.”

Azar said he and his family will be taking a vaccine as soon as it’s approved and available.

“I will be confident that my family and I should take the vaccine, and you should be confident that and you and your family should take it, too, because any vaccine will have met FDA standards as judged by FDA career scientists,” he said.

Azar’s public assurances about the integrity of any approved vaccines come the day after six U.S. senators called on the HHS inspector general to investigate allegations of political interference with public health information at the CDC and FDA.

“Numerous public reports have revealed that political appointees at HHS and the White House have repeatedly interfered with, undermined and even overruled career experts,” wrote the senators in their letter.

The Democratic senators expressed alarm regarding “reports of widespread and ongoing political interference in our nation’s public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” particularly at the CDC and FDA.

The letter was signed by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii).

Read the letter here:  www.fdanews.com/10-02-20-Letter.pdf. — Suz Redfearn