How has Joe Biden proposed vaccine distribution?
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has bluntly contradicted President Donald Trump's suggestion that a coronavirus vaccine may be only 'weeks away'.
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Thursday bluntly contradicted President Donald Trump's suggestion that a coronavirus vaccine may be only weeks away, warning Americans they cannot trust the president's word.
"The idea that there's going to be a vaccine and everything's gonna be fine tomorrow - it's just not rational, not reasonable," Biden said during a CNN town hall in Moosic, Pennsylvania.
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Trump again said earlier this week that a vaccine for Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, could be ready for distribution ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
Most health experts, including Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have said a vaccine will not be widely available until mid-2021.
Trump has accused Biden of spreading "anti-vaccine rhetoric," while Biden has emphasized that he will listen to scientists, not the president, regarding a vaccine's safety.
Trust the scientist
"Let me be clear: I trust vaccines, I trust scientists, but I don’t trust Donald Trump," Biden said. "At this moment, the American people can’t either."
“If I’m elected president, I’ll begin by implementing an effective distribution plan from the minute I take office,” Biden said in another speech in Wilmington, Delaware, following a briefing by public health experts.
Joe Biden questioned the Trump administration's process for approving a coronavirus vaccine while expressing broad confidence in vaccines and the scientists who create and vet them: "I trust vaccines, I trust the scientists, but I don't trust Donald Trump" https://t.co/HBjWWWjEVd pic.twitter.com/PI8a3BlzAr
— POLITICO (@politico) September 16, 2020
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“I will provide the leadership necessary to carry out that plan. I’ll level with the American people, I’ll take responsibility, and I’ll support — rather than take down — the experts responsible for the day-to-day execution of the plan. I’ll simply follow the science.”
"There has to be total transparency, so scientists outside the government know what is being approved," Biden said. "I’m saying, trust the scientist."