- Trump is reportedly furious with US vaccine approval agency after the UK became the first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine.
- The outgoing president has repeatedly expressed his frustration with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over what he perceives to be a delay to its vaccine approval process.
- Outlets including CNN reported that "agitation" among White House officials grew further when the UK on Wednesday approved the Pfizer vaccine, becoming the first country in the world to do so.
- Trump wants he, not President-elect Joe Biden, to receive credit for the roll out of a vaccine.
President Trump's is reportedly angry with the US vaccine approval agency after the United Kingdom became the first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine.
Trump has repeatedly expressed his frustration with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over what he perceives to be a delay to its vaccine approval process.
Publications including CNN reported that "agitation" among White House officials increased when the UK on Wednesday approved the Pfizer vaccine, becoming the first country in the world to do so.
Antony Fauci, the top US infectious disease expert, on Wednesday said the UK's vaccine approval process had not been as "careful" as the FDA's but later apologised and suggested his comments had been misinterpreted.
The president tweets frequently about the Pfizer vaccine and others but remained uncharacteristically silent when the news emerged that the UK's medicines agency had approved the drug, meaning it will be rolled out from next week.
The outgoing president wants to begin rolling out the vaccine as soon as possible so that he, rather than President-elect Biden, receives as much credit as possible, according to reports.
Trump's vaccine effort, called Operation Warp Speed, heavily backed one of the three vaccine candidates which have emerged as having high efficacy, and The Daily Beast reported that the president is upset that Biden will "steal" the credit he believes he is due.
The president has repeatedly suggested that Pfizer and other pharmaceutical firms delayed announcing that their vaccines worked until after the November 3 election, suggesting that the reasoning for doing so were politically motivated.
—Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 10, 2020
The head of Trump's vaccine development program on Tuesday pushed back on the president's frequent complaints that the FDA's vaccine approval process had been delayed.
Moncef Slaoui, the chief science advisor at Operation Warp Speed, told The Washington Post: "I think the FDA should be doing a thorough job to make sure the review of the vaccines are complete and in-depth and fully scientifically driven, and then have a good discussion and review with their advisory committee, and come to the appropriate decision."