Public trust in the CDC and the FDA is at a low right at the moment when the agency's need to be increasing efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19 and building confidence in a future vaccine. One of the key problems - mixed messaging from the top of the administration and political interference by appointees and advisers who have little experience in public health all while faced with one of the greatest health and economic challenges we've seen.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: The Trump White House was not happy about this. There were reports that the president wanted her fired. He was upset about the stock market falling in response to these concerns. And there was a press briefing with health officials later the same day in which they tried to soften that message. And the next day President Trump put Vice President Pence in charge of the White House coronavirus task force.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: We do have another cautionary tale right now. It's about a choir practice in Washington state that took a tragic turn. You know, despite practicing social distancing, 45 people who showed up have now tested positive or are showing symptoms of coronavirus, and two members have died.
CORNISH: I mean, there's been a lot, but yeah. Maybe you're - are you talking about the time that the surgeon general tweeted to stop buying masks? SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Yes, that's right. It's definitely not just about CDC. When it comes to FDA, the concern is really about its role in approving a vaccine. And President Trump has made clear he wants a coronavirus vaccine as fast as possible. But trust is especially key with vaccines. They do absolutely nothing if people don't get immunized, and people won't get immunized if they don't trust the process.
ROBERT REDFIELD: If you're asking me when is it going to be generally available to the American public so we can begin to take advantage of vaccine to get back to our regular life, I think we're probably looking at third - late second quarter, third quarter 2021.PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I don't think he means that. I don't think he - when he said it, I believe he was confused. I'm just telling you we're ready to go as soon as the vaccine happens.
Their policies during this pandemic which led to lockdowns, fear, depression, isolation, excess non-Covid deaths, suicides, job loss, retirements lost, and homelessness have killed more people than the virus. History will judge the hysteria
Rightly so.
I have started going to science websites