States, cities and pharmaceutical corporations are contradicting or ignoring the Trump administration in responding to COVID-19 as the White House continues to push for responses that may affect the president politically while undermining the country’s ability to fight the pandemic.
The Trump administration has issued rules and statements in recent weeks that appear to be aimed at expanding the president’s chances for reelection, be it an in-time vaccine forecast for Nov. 3 or a replacement for CDC rules that, if they are followed, they would decrease. volume tests, resulting in fewer cases.
But the ongoing war by the opposing administration having an effect on COVID-19, rather than the disease itself, has weakened trust in the country’s public health agencies. The loss of influence means that state and local governments are much more cautious about federal recommendations on public fitness.
The recent occasions have “really shaken the confidence of fitness experts and the public,” Dr. Howard Koh, former deputy secretary of fitness for the Department of Health and Human Services, told TPM.
“If other people do not accept as true the vaccine and the FDA approval process, and the advice of the CDC,” Koh added, “this pandemic will pass indefinitely. “
The result is a scenario in which the Trump administration struggles with politically motivated statements that undermine the federal government’s ability to fight COVID-19, but are so absurd at first glance that establishments leave the chain. The president’s command will not participate.
“The political leadership has been strong and has tarnished the reputation of the FDA and CDC,” Dr. Bill Schaffner, professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told TPM.
“The two agencies created to protect the fitness of the American population have noted that their reputations are broken and they have been marginalized by the national political machinery,” he continued. “It is extremely unhappy and it will take many years for those two agencies to regain their credibility. “
TPM was unable to identify virtually any organization that followed the CDC’s advice to avoid testing other people exposed to COVID-19 who were not yet showing symptoms. Rather, a diversity of states and localities across the political landscape have publicly stated that they will continue to test.
At the same time, President Trump’s attempt to launch a COVID-19 vaccine led even pharmaceutical companies to inoculate factoring in an unprecedented claim that they were determined to make sure a vaccine was safe and effective before seeking approval from the government.
The CDC’s advice on asymptomatic testing last month came as a surprise to many and sparked an uproar on the public fitness network that made management understand exactly what the advice meant.
Experts expressed fear that the council would only confuse local officials and lead them to cut tests. But instead, states and localities should forget about the CDC.
Texas and Florida have refused to replace their rules and continue to call for other people exposed to COVID-19 who do not yet have symptoms to be tested.
North Dakota Division of Disease Control Chief Kirby Kruger said the state “has not superseded any of our recommendations here in North Dakota and that we should do so because we believe our recommendations have a sense of public appropriateness. ” .
And in Mississippi, state fitness employee Thomas Dobbs described the rules as and they were miscommunicated before saying the state would not supersede his recommendations.
HHS spokesman Michael Caputo did not respond to a request for comment from TPM regarding examples of states or localities that accepted the CDC’s recommendation.
President Trump has promised a vaccine on Election Day and has publicly insisted that the FDA approve a vaccine until then.
This overrides the schedule required for existing vaccine trials to achieve protection and efficacy. A government official told CNN that he “did not know of any scientist involved in this effort who believes we are going to be shot dead at any time before Election Day. “
Officials in several states have told TPM that they will refuse to distribute a vaccine that has obtained federal approval without completing trials or without receiving approval from an independent clinical board.
“There is a vaccine approval procedure that has been followed for years, and other people who understand that this time there have been shortcuts are going to be disastrous,” Koh said. “It just can’t happen. “
The seven pharmaceutical corporations involved in the progression of COVID-19 vaccines issued a joint pledge Tuesday morning, saying that the corporations would only seek FDA approval after compelling knowledge that a candidate vaccine appears to be effective.
Dr. Schaffner, who is also a member of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, told TPM that it was “impressive and unprecedented. “
But, Schaffner added, it doesn’t specify what corporations would do with security.
“They are not saying that they are determined to direct the trial to completion,” Schaffner said. “They are not saying that they are insisting that the FDA take the resolution that they are taking and present it to the advisory committee that the FDA already has. “