Trump accuses FDA of delaying Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine announcement 

In the aftermath of Pfizer’s (NYSE: PFE) announcement that its COVID-19 vaccine promises to be 90% effective, President Trump is faulting the FDA for its role allegedly delaying the announcement until after Election Day. The President has pointed to the episode as evidence for a ‘medical deep state,” according to the Washington Post.

Already, HHS Secretary Alex Azar had reportedly discussed the prospect of removing Dr. Stephen Hahn as FDA commissioner.

Now, Trump has requested that Azar “get to the bottom” why the Pfizer announcement came after Election Day, according to a Washington Post article citing an anonymous source. After the Pfizer announcement, Trump reportedly called Hahn “screaming at him,” according to the newspaper.

In a recent coronavirus task force meeting, Hahn said that the timing of the Pfizer announcement was based on the company’s independent decisions alone.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla echoed that sentiment in a recent CNN interview, stating that the announcement’s timing was based on scientific rather than political considerations.

Azar, however, argued differently, suggesting that FDA deliberately caused a delay in Pfizer’s announcement.

The timing of Pfizer’s is coincidental, according to the Annenberg Public Policy Center FactCheck.org

Tensions between the White House and the FDA had been building for months, according to Politico.