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President Donald Trump used his Labor Day message to demand that Pfizer make its COVID-19 vaccine data public, calling for immediate transparency as his administration faces fallout from leadership upheaval at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“It is very important that the Drug Companies justify the success of their various Covid Drugs. Many people think they are a miracle that saved Millions of lives. Others disagree!” Trump wrote on Monday on Truth Social. “With CDC being ripped apart over this question, I want the answer, and I want it NOW.”
Trump said Pfizer and other companies had shown him encouraging results but had failed to release them to the public. “They show me GREAT numbers and results, but they don’t seem to be showing them to many others,” he wrote. “I want them to show them NOW, to CDC and the public, and clear up this MESS, one way or the other!!! I hope OPERATION WARP SPEED was as ‘BRILLIANT’ as many say it was. If not, we all want to know about it, and why???”
The comments follow the firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez last week after a dispute with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccine approvals. Monarez was removed after she refused to rescind authorization for specific age groups, leading at least four senior CDC officials to resign in protest. Jim O’Neil, the agency’s deputy director, was named acting director.
Trump launched Operation Warp Speed during his first term to accelerate vaccine development and distribution. The Biden administration later imposed a series of mandates for vaccines in workplaces, the military and federal agencies. Federal courts blocked some mandates while others remained in effect.
The Food and Drug Administration recently updated its guidelines, restricting emergency use authorizations and narrowing the scope of approval. The FDA authorized vaccines for those at higher risk include Moderna for ages six months and older, Pfizer for ages five and up and Novavax for ages 12 and older.
“The emergency use authorizations for Covid vaccines, once used to justify broad mandates on the general public during the Biden administration, are now rescinded,” Kennedy said.
“FDA has now issued marketing authorization for those at higher risk … These vaccines are available for all patients who choose them after consulting with their doctors,” he continued.
