Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said that reopening plans do not entirely « depend on a vaccine » after the Trump administration set a goal to develop a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year. »
May 17 (UPI) — Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Sunday that plans to reopen businesses, schools and other facilities do not rely entirely on the development of a vaccine for COVID-19.
Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union, Azar sought to clarify comments by President Donald Trump during a news conference on Friday during which he said « vaccine or no vaccine, we’re back » while announcing a crash effort to develop a vaccine before the end of the year.
« So what the president was making the point on is — everything does not depend on a vaccine. We’ere committed to delivering a vaccine, but that’s one of a multi-factorial response program, » said Azar. « First is the testing we talked about before, test symptomatic people, broad surveillance to find cases, surge and to contain. Also therapeutics. »
Azar also told CBS News’Face the Nation that the administration’s plan to prepare 300 million doses of a coronavirus by the end of the year was a goal and « not a pledge.
