Trump: Expect emergency authorization for COVID-19 vaccine very soon

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Trump: Expect emergency authorization for COVID-19 vaccine very soon

President gives update on 'Operation Warp Speed', says millions of doses will soon be distributed

Nov. 13, 2020 – This is a rush transcript from “Your World with Neil Cavuto” November 13, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: All right, John, thank you very, very much.

We are waiting for the president of the United States as well here, again, on this Operation Warp Speed, amid very promising signs from Pfizer and BioNTech that they are still ready for an aggressive launch of their vaccine that could be literally just a matter of days away, weeks at the latest, and that they are ready with about 50 million doses this year.

It could be better than 1.5 billion doses, thanks to partnerships with governments in the United States and in Europe, for next year. There are many others crowding that lane to get various treatments out as well, including, we're hearing right now, Moderna very close to releasing data on its vaccine promised that we are told looks promising as well and a host of other players, from Johnson & Johnson to AstraZeneca, all of course, buoyed by very, very positive news on the testing front, and that this could be out in people's hands very soon.

All of that offsetting what has been, in the meantime, a worrisome spike in cases in the United States. We have had 10 days running now where they have exceeded 100,000 new cases, an uptick in hospitalizations as well that no doubt the president will touch on and address when he speaks with reporters momentarily.

Also, a number of states are trying to get ahead of this by cracking down, issuing restrictions of their own. California, Oregon and Washington state are now urging residents in those respective states to rule out nonessential out-of-state travel. They're not ordering them to do that, but they are highly recommending it, as New Jersey and Connecticut and New York entertain the possibility of tightening restrictions of their own.

And in New York City, a warning from the mayor that parents might want to be ready for the possibility their kids will go to school, all right, but it will only be for virtual classes.

When it rains, it pours.

Welcome, everybody. I'm Neil Cavuto, and this is "Your World."

Looking at the Rose Garden right now for the president of the United States. We saw him, of course, on Veterans Day. And we did see him late on election night into the following morning to talk about the as-yet- undecided race at the time.

But that's been it. This will be his first opportunity we're going to be hearing from him and seeing him more than we did, again, at that Veterans Day event at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

So, a lot of anticipation for that. Whether he will address these counts going on in various states and media services, our own including, declaring North Carolina for him and the 15 electoral votes there, anyone's guess.

But it could come up. He might take questions. We have no idea.

But I have a good idea that Kevin Corke, who's there, might have a good understanding of the -- at least the layout and the order of events.

Kevin, what are you hearing?

KEVIN CORKE, FOX NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good to be with you, Neil.

Obviously, with 10 million cases, more than 240,000 deaths, it is difficult in any circumstance to consider news positive when it comes to COVID-19.

However, when you consider the fact that the president spent much of the fall talking about the possibility of a vaccine, an anti-COVID-19 vaccine, perhaps by the end of the year, and yet we could very well be on the cusp of something like that.

You and I had a chance to talk last week about that Pfizer test trial exceeding 90 percent effectiveness. And so we wonder what the president will say here in the Rose Garden today. A lot of people have a lot at stake here, and, clearly, Neil, when you consider this is a very difficult time for a number of staffers, who simply don't know if they will be here, say, eight weeks from now, or if they will keep going on business as usual.

All the same, the president is expected to talk about Operation Warp Speed.

He wants to make sure that the American people have an opportunity to have this vaccine, and that it will be free for all Americans, as we continue to await his comments.

I mentioned the death toll, over 240,000. And you talked about a spike in cases that also coincides with a massive surge in testing around the country. And that's something we also anticipate the president will speak about here today.

And while we don't know exactly what he will say today, we do know this.

This has been a major focus, not just for the president, but also for the vice president. And we look forward to the comments, as do all of the American people.

I should also point this out very quickly, Neil. From the campaign's perspective, they continue to push on. They say lawsuits are going on. They continue to fight for the 2020 election outcome. And the president, we suspect, will also say -- if he does take questions, perhaps he will say, yes, he continues to fight on.

Of course, that is coming up in just a few moments. And, of course, we will be here for you for live coverage -- but, for now, back to you.

CAVUTO: All right, thank you very much, Kevin Corke.

We already know that Joe Biden has assembled his own Coronavirus Task Force to look into things. Among some of the things that they kicked around is the possibility of another lockdown for four to six weeks, one of his health advisers saying that might kill it off and avoid taking even more serious measures. Joe Biden himself has not endorsed that.

He is simply reflecting the will of some people on the medical team, Joe Biden's medical team, what to do if these cases continue spiking, as they are.

Let's go to Peter Doocy with the former vice president at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware -- sir.

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Neil, good afternoon.

The Biden transition officials are starting to warn that, if the president- elect does not start getting access to the same COVID-19 intel that President Trump has access to because it's being held up, as the GSA refuses to ascertain that Biden actually beat Trump, then it could affect a future President Biden's COVID-19 response when he takes over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEN PSAKI, BIDEN TRANSITION ADVISER: We would prefer and I think the American people would prefer if the incoming administration, the incoming president could have access to the real-time current information and plans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: We have a brand-new statement from the president-elect.

He says this: "This crisis does not respect dates on the calendar. It is accelerating right now. Urgent action is needed today now by the current administration, starting with an acknowledgement of how serious the current situation is."

And, remember, as he looks at who's going to help him with his COVID-19 plan, Biden said earlier this week he wants to let Congress know who he's going to appoint for his Cabinet, at least a few people, by Thanksgiving.

But now his team is saying that's too fast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOHANNES ABRAHAM, BIDEN TRANSITION ADVISER: Finally, there have been a number of smart questions about the timeline for Cabinet announcements.

For some historical context, during the 2008 transition, most of the Obama/Biden Cabinet texts were announced in December. Our priority right now is supporting the president-elect and the vice president-elect as they seek to build a diverse team of experts that can confront the crises facing the country on day one of the new administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: The president -- the president-elect is here in Rehoboth Beach, where he keeps a weekend house, for some R&R.

We have not laid eyes on him yet, and we do not expect any public events while he is here. The campaign says they just think he -- or, rather, the transition just says that they think he has earned a few days off the -- off the job -- Neil.

CAVUTO: All right, Peter Doocy, thank you very much.

Again, we're waiting to hear from the president of the United States on Operation Warp Speed, the main vehicle for which some of these vaccines, potential remedies to deal with COVID-19 were first advanced.

Dr. Qanta Ahmed joins us right now, the New York University Langone Medical assistant pulmonologist, intensive care specialist. Just let's say a brainiac, I think it's fair to say.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: So, Doctor, what do you want to hear out of the president? What do you expect to hear?

DR. QANTA AHMED, PULMONOLOGIST: I expect the president is going to assure us that Operation Warp Speed is still full speed ahead.

The only reason the world, not just the United States, but the world has these vaccines, is because of the incredible $10 billion front-loading investment the United States has placed in multiple vaccine companies, two of them, at least -- at least two of them American, since the beginning of this pandemic.

The Pfizer achievement is significant. And that is going to be followed very shortly by the Moderna vaccine. Pfizer's challenge is cold chain supply storage. The United States has anticipated that. We have freezer farms in Kentucky and Netherlands linked to UPS and DHL transportation hubs that is already in place.

The Moderna will not need the cold chain storage that the Pfizer vaccine needs.

I actually think there's a very big difference between President Trump's policy for the pandemic planning at this stage compared to what Joe Biden is suggesting. Joe Biden wants to accelerate funding for escalating rapid testing across the country, is thinking about mask mandates.

Those have their uses. But we are now in the absolute thick of the pandemic, and we need to be planning a mass vaccination program in the United States. That is where all the resources should go.

With that question, we're going to have, I would guess, half-a-dozen vaccine candidates very, very soon. The technology with Pfizer is revolutionary. It's an mRNA technology, which has never been successful before. So is the Moderna. Johnson & Johnson will be on the heels actually with one injection only. The other vaccines need two injections.

So we need massive mobilization of this, logistics to vaccinate Americans.

I think that's actually probably an even greater priority than widespread rapid testing, which we already have. We did about 160,000 rapid -- 160,000 tests for COVID in New York state each day.

So, we have a vast scale of testing, but we need the logistics of vaccination. And I'm guessing that would be the president's distinction.

CAVUTO: Doctor, how will these various vaccines be handed out? I mean, what is the order? What's the protocol, if you don't mind my asking? Who gets it and when?

AHMED: So, I haven't seen any classified documents.

But my guess is, the United States government will be very keen to vaccinate initially front-line health care workers, my colleagues who are now in the intensive care units, military enforcement, people that are absolutely vital to the functioning of our country and for responding to the pandemic.

Then I think the United States will look to vaccinating populations that are cohorted in nursing homes, people that look after nursing home patients, patients that live there that are very vulnerable and at high risks of death.

Later, it's going to come out to the wider, healthier population. So, I think that's what we will see. Now ,we are going to be hindered, to a degree, however much they deny it, in states where governors have inserted themselves and are challenging the authorizations that the FDA will be likely to give.

I expect the Pfizer vaccine to get at least an emergency use authorization before Thanksgiving, which is in about 10 days, and probably Moderna will follow suit, if not a full FDA approval, depending on how the data is interpreted. But

in New York state and also Oregon, Washington and California, the Democratic governors there have decided that they want to empower their own panels to review the FDA scientific inquiry, which I find objectionable.

They assure us that it won't cause a delay, but there's no way that it will not cause a delay.

And so I think that we want to, as a nation, irrespective of our other differences, move forward. If we look back to the history of mass vaccination campaigns in the United States with smallpox, which was an unbelievable prion, and that vaccination campaign happened in New York City right here, we vaccinated 6.5 million people in weeks in New York City.

And that was decades ago. We did a similar effort with polio. So we can do this when we put our minds to it. Going back to the smallpox vaccination, they opened police precincts, schools, gymnasiums, church halls, places where the public would gather and come and get vaccinated.

And we're probably going to see something of that nature.

CAVUTO: Doctor, you mentioned Thanksgiving. And we get mixed signals from a lot of governors, a lot of mayors, who say, let's not have large family gatherings, which, depending on how well you like your relatives or your in-laws, that could be a good or bad thing.

But, leaving that aside, what do you recommend, as people gather or try to gather, or think of gathering, for the holidays?

AHMED: So, we know that this virus is exceedingly contagious. It's contagious when we are not having symptoms.

So, if people are planning to see their families in whatever fashion they see fit, we would say, try to have an outdoor gathering. It's been very mild in New York right now. It may be possible to have an outdoor gathering with some safe heating sources at home. If possible, try to be tested for COVID before you gather as a family.

Be tested after you gather as a family. Look at the elderly people in your family. If you can, practice your social distancing, and wear the masks.

But the most important piece is ventilation. Wherever you're meeting your family, try and have always fresh air. Don't be cooped up in a room with no ventilation.

If there is a way and you're in areas where there can be HEPA filtration, there can be negative pressure -- that's not really commonplace in normal homes. But those things would help as well. And, therefore, there's a great need for sanitizing the indoor air and clean air. And that's probably going to be the next frontier in managing this pandemic.

But I also want to say, it's an incredible hardship to not see our families. Certainly, smaller gatherings are better. And if you have a very vulnerable or a very sick family member who's immunosuppressed or a transplant recipient or a cancer patient, the stakes are much higher for you gathering.

But I'm seeing many patients and many colleagues. The medical work force is very tired, very burnt out. Our police work force, our nursing work force, we're all craving to see our own families. My own family, I'm not sure that I will see until late in 2021 because they're overseas.

So there is a tremendous need for families to be together. If they can do it safely, they can.

I would absolutely discourage mass gatherings of any kind. Whether you're celebrating or whether you're protesting or whether there are other interactions, mass gatherings, I discourage, even if they are outside.

But small family gatherings, open the windows, be in the fresh air, protect your most vulnerable relatives.

CAVUTO: Got it.

AHMED: There's probably a mental health benefit to that.

CAVUTO: There is another idea, Doctor. And I hate to leave you here, and I don't want to be flippant about it.

But you could also put your relatives outside, and you could be cozy inside, that that's another option, right?

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: I mean, you would be distanced.

AHMED: Well, that's up to everybody's own family dynamics, right?

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: Well put, Doctor.

AHMED: And, of course, people can connect in this -- in the technology ways. People can connect.

But what I'm hearing and feeling in New York is we are all missing our family. Post connects in this in the technology ways people can connect.

But what I'm hearing and feeling in New York is, we are all missing our family. We're missing our relatives.

CAVUTO: Absolutely.

AHMED: I don't know if you're aware, Neil, but New York City is on the threshold of closing all of the schools again.

CAVUTO: I know. They're talking about it for Monday. Here we go.

AHMED: I have seen distressed parents today, distressed co-workers.

CAVUTO: Yes.

AHMED: Yes. Yes.

CAVUTO: It's incredible.

AHMED: Not to mention the economic ramifications of a return to lockdown, which is also going to have a public health effect.

So, we are very worried. It is a blessing that we have so many vaccine candidates on the threshold. And that credit has to be given to this administration and this nation. Without this nation, those vaccines would not have been possible.

CAVUTO: You're quite right.

Doctor, so good catching up. I always learn so much. I appreciate it. Be well. Be safe. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving yourself.

We are waiting to hear, by the way, from the president of the United States, Operation Warp Speed, his way to say about the vaccines that are now quickly becoming available or are certainly being telegraphed right out of the part of at least a half-a-dozen different companies.

Of course, the one that gets the most attention right now is that offering from Pfizer and BioNTech, the European concern, that could be ready to go in a matter of days, and even have the various doses available by the millions by the -- by certainly the end of this year and upwards of one billion doses available next year.

That's just that corporate combo there. So, we're watching this very, very closely.

As the doctor alluded to, this occurs at a time we're seeing serious spikes in cases across this country, actually across the world, Europe, you name it.

In the New York City metropolitan area, Mayor Bill de Blasio gave a warning and sort of a shout-out to parents, be prepared on Monday. He might be looking at kids going to school only virtually, not in person. Imagine being a parent trying to adjust to that, especially working parents who have to struggle, that that's something that would go into effect as soon as Monday.

So it's got everybody kind of crazy, wondering what is next and who is next.

Ahead of that, I want to go to Lee Carter, following all of this very, very closely.

Lee, I always think of this Operation Warp Speed and the arrival of potential vaccines, if we had gotten this news before Election Day, you always wonder, would it have made a difference in the outcome? We will never know that.

But this is one area where the money that was poured in to getting drugs to market quickly and bypassing a lot of administrative nonsense could be paying off as we speak. Your thoughts?

LEE CARTER, REPUBLICAN POLLSTER: So, this is a big moment, obviously.

And I agree with you. This could have been the kind of thing that changed the outcome for the president. I think, had he not gotten COVID right before, I think that set him off-course as well.

But this is a moment where I think the president is going to be outlining his victory. This is what he does. He does it very, very well, when he talks about the success of the American spirit, of American ingenuity. I think he's going to be talking about some big announcements related to the vaccine and the accomplishments of this administration.

I really think he's also going to be trying to make a stark contrast between Joe Biden, what he called a dimmer switch, as opposed to a shutdown. He talked about targeted shutdowns, Joe Biden did.

And I think this president is trying to -- is going to try and talk about how he is in charge now, at least for the foreseeable future. And this is what it looks like. We're going to keep going. We're innovating in order to try and find a cure.

And I think there's going to be a very large schism between the two approaches that they have, and it's going to be very, very palpable.

CAVUTO: You know, North Carolina called for the president. Georgia, they're still going through that count, but it's still prohibitive math for him to try to reverse this. It's possible, I guess.

But how do you see this playing out? We don't even know if he will address any of this and his remarks. He might not even take questions and just focus on this vaccine news and where we stand with the virus.

But what do you think?

CARTER: I don't think that anything is going to change significantly.

I mean, any recount that we have ever had has never moved numbers by more than a few hundred. All of these states are within thousands. And so, while it feels very close, while it feels, I know, very, very difficult to accept when it is this close, I think we're going to have to come to terms with it.

It also seems like the accusations of voter fraud are being rejected.

They're being shut down. They're not making progress on those fronts. And so I don't expect any big shifts or moves. I'm not surprised that North Carolina and Georgia are -- that the announcements are being made about those states today.

I think many people knew that that was the direction that we were going. I know that a lot of people still do want to see Georgia, because they want to know what happened to those military ballots. They want to know exactly what happened there. All eyes are going to be on that hand recount. But I really don't expect a huge different results.

Recounts, again, change 200 votes, 300 votes, maybe tops. We're not going to see in the numbers of thousands that the president's going to need.

CAVUTO: What about the Senate race in Georgia? There are two of them. And I guess, obviously, there's a possibility David Perdue could avoid the run- off altogether if, in the count that's going on, he gets to 50 percent, plus one, which would avoid just the phenomenon.

But Democrats need both of those seats to take the U.S. Senate. What do you think of the odds there?

(LAUGHTER)

CARTER: I think the odds are small.

But I think this is going to be the most publicized and high spend on a Senate race that we have ever seen. I think all eyes are going to be on Georgia. I know people myself are going down there, volunteering, knocking on doors, doing whatever it takes on both sides.

This is going to be consequential. And I think that one of the things that the president's going to continue to do is, he's going to continue to stay in the race as long as he can, so that he can drive people out to vote as much as he can. He's going to rally as well.

But this is an issue -- this defines what's going to happen from here. If -

- if the Democrats take this, then Democrats will have the White House and they will have the Senate. And that is going to be really, really difficult for Republicans to hold back.

What happens if we have the Senate, if Republicans have the Senate and they have the House? Then it's going to be, I actually, think the best of all worlds. We will finally have to compromise. We're going to have to see Mitch McConnell and Joe Biden's relationship at work.

And so all eyes are going to be on Georgia. I imagine that it's going to feel like a presidential election all over again.

CAVUTO: I think you're right.

Lee Carter, thank you very much. Good catching up with you, my friend.

I want to go to New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who is kind enough to join us right now.

Senator, thank you.

What do you think the president is going to say? What do you want to hear him say, if it's presumably on the virus and these vaccines that seem to be moving forward?

SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY): Well, I'd love to hear him concede the election, because the rest of us know that he has lost.

But I suspect he will be talking about his optimism towards getting vaccines out sooner than later.

CAVUTO: Now, the vaccines come at a time in New York, as you know better than many, we have seen a spike in cases, and we have seen New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio hint of telling parents it's going to be all virtual classes come Monday, this spike is getting out of control.

What do you think of that, Senator?

GILLIBRAND: Well, we have seen a spike in cases not only across New York, but across the whole country. On Thursday, we had 160,000 new cases, which we haven't seen in quite some time.

So, I am deeply concerned that we need to really look at how we can rein that in, how we can urge people to stop the large gatherings, to make sure they wear masks, to do the social distancing, and not to spend time inside with people they don't know.

I think it's very problematic that we are seeing such a spike in cases. And there's hospitals across the country that are getting overwhelmed right now.

So, if we do need to close schools and return to remote learning, it is very hard on parents. I know exactly how it feels like, since I have had one child in remote learning on and off since COVID started.

But the truth is, is, we care about our families, and we want to make sure that people don't get COVID and don't die. We have already seen over

250,000 deaths. We don't want to see another 250,000 deaths.

So, I think we have to be careful and wear masks and do social distancing.

And they just reported on a wedding in Long Island where 100 -- over 100 people attended, and some-odd 40 cases happened because of that wedding.

CAVUTO: Yes, I saw that. Yes.

GILLIBRAND: That seems to have been ill-advised, and that more care should have been taken for the well-being of the people they invited.

CAVUTO: Yes, I was surprised at that.

Senator, there's another development, where Joe Biden has his own coronavirus task force, a health care task force, more to the point.

But one of his advisers had talked about the possibility of shutting things down again for four to six weeks to beat this once and for all. What do you think of that?

GILLIBRAND: Well, I think that our governors will look at ways to rein in the COVID epidemic and the current spike. I know that our governor in New York is going to limit the size of gatherings to no more than 10 people, which I think is smart.

This is the holidays. And I listened to the doctor who spoke before, and she just made a very good point that we want to see our families. We miss our families. We'd love that social connection, especially during Thanksgiving and the holidays.

And so the truth is, families want to be together. But they don't want to be together if it means someone will get ill and someone might die. And so I think governors should continue to create plans to enforce social distancing, enforce mask mandates.

And I'm grateful that the president-elect, Joe Biden, has put together a smart panel of experts who can give guidance on how we should move forward to again protect the most vulnerable among us, and really stop the spread of COVID.

CAVUTO: Senator, while I have you here, there's a lot of interest in who Joe Biden will pick for his Cabinet.

Bernie Sanders all but volunteered. I think he did outright volunteer to be labor secretary. There's been interest in an Elizabeth Warren, your colleague in the Senate, to be a Treasury secretary. That might be more problematic.

But your thoughts on either or both in a Biden Cabinet?

GILLIBRAND: Well, I think Joe Biden has a lot of talent from which to draw.

I think both of my colleagues are excellent public servants and great leaders and would do a great job in both of those positions.

But I'm certain that Joe Biden will pick the best people for the job across his Cabinet to make sure that he has the best minds at work to figure out how to rebuild our economy from the ground up and build it back better, to how to bring the country back together again. We're so divided, and we need to find common ground, ideas that are universal, like access to health care, access to education and jobs.

CAVUTO: All right.

GILLIBRAND: So, I'm hopeful that he will bring together the best and the brightest.

CAVUTO: OK.

Senator Gillibrand, thank you very much for taking the time, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand on Capitol Hill.

GILLIBRAND: Thanks, Neil.

CAVUTO: Now the president of the United States.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you very much. Thank you. It's beautiful out here this time of year. In the past nine months, my administration has initiated the single greatest mobilization in U.S.

history -- pioneering, developing, and manufacturing therapies and vaccines in record time. Numbers like nobody has seen before.

No medical breakthrough of this scope and magnitude has ever been achieved this rapidly, this quickly. And we're very proud of it, and I had tremendous help from the military -- generals, admirals -- and many of the great people at the White House.

Operation Warp Speed is unequaled and unrivaled anywhere in the world, and leaders of other countries have called me to congratulate us on what we've been able to do, and we've helped many countries with their ventilators and all of the problems they were having.

And I'd like to congratulate everyone involved in this effort. It's been an incredible effort. As a result of Operation Warp Speed, Pfizer announced on Monday that its China virus vaccine is more than 90 percent effective. This far exceeds any and all expectations. Nobody thought they'd get to that level. And we have others coming which we think will be at equal level -- maybe more, if that's possible.

In July, my administration reached an agreement with Pfizer to provide $1.

95 billion to support the mass manufacturing and distribution of 100 million doses, with the option to purchase a total of 600 million doses shortly thereafter. Our investment will make it possible for the vaccine to be provided by Pfizer free of charge.

Pfizer said it wasn't part of Warp Speed, but that turned out to be a unfortunate misrepresentation. They are part. That's why we gave them the $1. 95 million -- billion dollars. And it was an unfortunate mistake that they made when they said that.

We will work to secure an emergency use authorization, which should be coming down extremely soon. And my administration will then coordinate the distribution of the vaccine, and it will be approved, I think -- again, it will be approved very, very quickly, we hope.

The average development timeline for the vaccine, including clinical tests and manufacturing, can take 8 to 12 years. Through Operation Warp Speed, we're doing it in less than one year. If you had a different administration with different people, what we've done would have taken, in my opinion, three, four, five years, and it would have been in the FDA forever.

This is five times faster than the fastest prior vaccine development in history. Five times faster. Say it again: five times faster. Nobody can believe it, actually.

Three other vaccines are also in the final stages of trial. They'll arrive within a few weeks, and they will also be mass produced, and the delivery will be very rapid. We're ready to go.

The vaccine will be distributed to frontline workers, the elderly, and high-risk Americans immediately. It will be very -- a matter of weeks. Get out very, very much ahead of schedule. Any schedule that I said, we're going to be far ahead of that.

We know that this virus primarily targets older populations and those with underlying health conditions. Well, over 99. 98 percent of those under the age of 50 make a full and quick recovery. By giving the vaccine to high- risk individuals right away, we will dramatically reduce hospitalizations and deaths.

Case levels are high, but a lot of the case levels are high because of the fact that we have the best testing program anywhere in the world. We've developed the most and the best tests. And we test far more than any other country, so it shows, obviously, more cases.

By vaccinating the elderly and the high-risk, we will effectively end this phase of the pandemic and allow seniors to reclaim their golden years -- the golden years of their lives, which is so incredible. And it's about time that they can have those golden years.

Again, this process is starting right away. Millions of doses will soon be going out the door. They're all ready, waiting for that final approval. As soon as April, the vaccine will be available to the entire general population, with the exception of places like New York state, where, for political reasons, the governor decided, they say -- and I don't think it's good, politically; I think it's very bad from a health standpoint -- but he wants to take his time with the vaccine. He doesn't trust where the vaccine is coming from.

These are coming from the greatest companies anywhere in the world, greatest labs in the world. But he doesn't trust the fact that it's this White House, this administration. So we won't be delivering it to New York until we have authorization to do so, and that pains me to say that.

This is a very successful, amazing vaccine at 90 percent and more. But -- so, the governor, Governor Cuomo, will have to let us know when he's ready for it. Otherwise, we can't -- we can't be delivering it to a state that won't be giving it to its people immediately. And I know many -- I know the people of New York very well. I know they want it.

So the governor will let us know when he's ready. He's had some very bad editorials recently about this -- this statement and what's happened with respect to nursing homes and his handling of nursing homes, and I hope he doesn't handle this as badly as he's handled the nursing homes.

But we're ready to provide it as soon as they let us know that they'll actually use it. And again, it's a very safe and a great vaccine.

Already, we have among the lowest case-fatality rates -- our country -- anywhere in the world, the entire world. And we performed significantly better than our peer countries.

As far as therapeutics are concerned, my administration has also made critical investments in therapies that have helped reduce the mortality rate by 85 percent. That's, to me, one of the most exciting things. It's incredible, some of the antibody vaccines and others that have come out and have really helped people -- 85 percent.

Last month, the FDA approved remdesivir, and we've secured enough remdesivir to treat 850,000 patients.

My administration finalized an agreement with Eli Lilly to purchase the first doses of their antibody therapy, which shows amazing results. This treatment will be available completely free of cost to patients. Five thousand units have already been shipped, and many more are going out the door as we speak.

We also reached an agreement with AstraZeneca for the large-scale manufacturing of their antibody treatment, which is excellent. We expect to issue emergency use authorizations for a number of additional treatments in the near future. Tremendous promise. But remember the 85 percent number.

That's an incredible, incredible number. But we have some tremendously promising drugs on line and ready to come out.

We have ensured that our frontline workers have all the tools they need. My administration has invoked the Defense Production Act and related authorities over 100 times, and have made a historic investment into our industrial base. All states that requested PPE from the federal government have received the PPE almost immediately upon request.

Every American who needed a ventilator has had access to a ventilator.

Think of that. A very complicated piece of equipment. Very expensive. And we haven't had one person in this whole country that has requested or needed a ventilator that hasn't had it. Every single request has been immediately filled. So that was something. That was a great job.

And now we're helping the rest of the world with ventilators, because it's a very hard thing. We're producing them, thousands of -- thousands of ventilators a month.

The federal government has 22,000 beds immediately available for states and jurisdictions that need additional capacity, but we think that it's going to start going down, possibly very quickly. We'll see what happens. But with the vaccine, it'll -- you'll see numbers going down within a matter of months, and they'll go down very rapidly.

As we continue to combat the virus, our economy is rebounding far beyond any expectations. I see the stock market is up almost 400 points today again, and it's ready to break the all-time record.

Our jobs records are incredible. The job numbers are incredible. In the last six months, we've created over 13 million jobs and slashed the unemployment rate by more than half.

Last quarter, we witnessed the fastest economic growth ever recorded in the history of our country: 33. 1 percent. It's a number that is more than double our highest -- that was in 1952, and we've more than doubled it.

The United States experienced the smallest economic contraction and the most rapid economic recovery of any major Western nation. We went down less and we went up more, which is quite a combination of facts.

While healthy Americans have gone back to work and to school, we continue to spare no expense to protect the elderly and the vulnerable. According to some estimates, a national lockdown costs $50 billion a day and hundreds of thousands of jobs every single day.

Ideally, we won't go to a lockdown. I will not go -- this administration will not be going to a lockdown. Hopefully, the -- whatever happens in the future -- who knows which administration it will be? I guess time will tell. But I can tell you, this administration will not go to a lockdown.

There won't be necessity. Lockdowns cost lives, and they cost a lot of problems.

The cure cannot be -- you got to remember -- cannot be worse than the problem itself, and I've said it many times. And when you look at what happens during a lockdown -- I just say it very loudly -- it's horrible what happens with drugs, alcohol, depression, loss of jobs, business closures. It's a terrible thing.

So this administration will not go, under any circumstances -- will not go to a lockdown, but we'll be very vigilant, very careful. We understand the disease. It's a -- it's a complicated disease, but we understand it very well.

We ask all Americans to remain vigilant, especially as the weather gets colder and it becomes more difficult to go outside and to have outside gatherings.

And with that, I just want to ask some very talented people to come up and say a few words. General Perna and Dr. Slaoui have been incredible. The General is really getting started right now, but he's really -- what we don't know and what people don't know, he started putting this all together six months ago, and you're going to see some real action.

So, General, maybe you'll start it off? And then, Doctor, you'll go right after that. Thank you very much.

And then we're going to finish it off with Mike Pence. OK? Thank you, please. Thank you. Sure.

DR. MONCEF SLAOUI, CHIEF ADVISER TO VACCINE EFFORT: Thank you, Mr.

President.

Hi, everybody. So Operation Warp Speed's mission is to enable and accelerate the development of vaccines and therapeutics to help control the

COVID-19 pandemic and save lives.

On May 15, almost six months ago to the day, we stated the goal of the operation, which was to have vaccines and therapeutics available and approved for use in the U.S. population by the end of the year 2020. We said then that, while very challenging, the goal was credible and therefore was worth trying with the best -- our best to achieve it.

Today, we're almost six months later, and I think we can say that significant progress has been made. And while we are not there yet, we are close to the objective.

Let me share with you some facts. If I look at the vaccine side, we've selected a portfolio of six vaccines, using three different platform technologies, and we elected to have two vaccines from each platform technology. The first platform is what's called messenger RNA, and two vaccines using that platform were in the portfolio: one by Pfizer and one by Moderna.

The second platform is using what is called live viral vectors, and we had one vaccine from J&J and one vaccine from AstraZeneca, in partnership with Oxford University.

And the third platform was the recombinant protein platform, with one vaccine from a biotech company here in the U.S. called Novavax and another one from a partnership between Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline.

These vaccines are now -- six vaccines are all in the clinical development stages, and four of them are in phase three trials. And of the four that are in phase three trials, two have effectively completed enrollment in the phase three trial. And one of the two has announced on Monday -- to, I think, thrilling information -- that they had 90 percent efficacy -- that was the Pfizer vaccine -- demonstrating that vaccination is possible against COVID-19, that the kind of choices we have made in terms of the antigen selected was effective, and made us optimistic that other vaccines may also be effective.

On Wednesday, the same week -- just this Wednesday -- Moderna, the other company with the vaccine using similar platform technology -- messenger RNA

-- announced that they have achieved the number of cases in their trial to allow for a first interim analysis, and I would expect that shortly -- probably next week -- we may hear what I hope to be another very good information regarding an efficacious vaccine.

The two other vaccines that are in phase three trial that are using the live vector platform -- the J&J vaccine and the AstraZeneca vaccine -- have recruited already a few thousand subjects in their trials. I would like to take this opportunity to invite as many Americans as possible who would like to volunteer to participate in these clinical trials, as that's the only way we are able to achieve a demonstration of the safety and the efficacy of these vaccines.

The last two vaccines -- the protein recombinant protein vaccines -- are planned to start their phase three trials within the next few weeks. And while we are developing these vaccines, we haven't only looked at the clinical development, of course, in partnership with the companies that are the sponsors for the vaccine; we also invested very significantly in the manufacturing of this vaccine, in such a way as to when we have the clinical efficacy demonstration with these vaccines, we would also have vaccine doses to be able to immunize the U.S. population.

So the two vaccines that are completing their phase three trial are likely to be filing their files with the FDA for a potential emergency use authorization within the next few weeks. And hopefully, if approved, they could be used for immunization in the U.S. population in the month of December. And we have -- we plan to have enough vaccine doses available for use in the U.S. population to immunize about 20 million individuals in the month of December, and another 25 to 30 million per month on an ongoing basis from there on. And as of the month of February or March, if we have more vaccines approved, such as the live vector vaccine, we may be able to immunize a larger number of Americans, on an ongoing basis, per month.

Operation Warp Speed didn't only focus on vaccines; we also looked at therapeutics. And we have worked with a number of companies developing monoclonal antibodies, in particular, that are able to neutralize the virus.

As Mr. President said, we have announced partnerships with Eli Lilly, with Regeneron, and with AstraZeneca. And, on Monday, Eli Lilly's monoclonal antibody was granted an emergency use authorization to treat the patients that are infected and at risk of hospitalization. The Regeneron monoclonal antibodies have been also filed for emergency use authorization, which is currently under review and is potentially reaching approval within the next few weeks.

And finally, AstraZeneca, just in the last few days, has received a green light to start two large phase three trials with their monoclonal antibodies, supported by Operation Warp Speed, to prevent the acquisition of COVID-19 disease in very frail subjects or in very high-risk subjects, as a protective alternative to a vaccine.

So, potentially two vaccines and two therapeutics may be granted an emergency use authorization before the end of this year. I think it's a remarkable achievement within a period of six to seven months.

It is important to know that this progress has been achieved without any political interference. I said it many times. And at every step has been and is being judged by independent expert bodies, whether it's when the FDA grants the green light to go into clinical trials, or whether when the Data Safety Monitoring Boards review the safety of the studies on an ongoing basis and sometimes put them on hold, as I'm sure you have witnessed with the AstraZeneca vaccine, for instance.

And these same Data Safety Monitoring Boards are the independent boards of experts that analyze the efficacy of the vaccines and the safety of the vaccines and tell the companies whether they should progress with the filing of an emergency use authorization or not.

So it's not the companies. It's not Operation Warp Speed. It's not the U.S.

government. It is independent experts that assess the safety and the efficacy of the vaccines that are being tested.

And when the FDA will review these vaccines and therapeutics, they will also have the advice -- public advice from boards; one of them is called the VRBPAC, that is the advisory board to the FDA for vaccine reviews -- after review of the data transparently and available to everybody to look into before the FDA then makes its decision to either authorize the vaccine or not authorize it.

On that basis, I personally feel very comfortable to say that the vaccines and the therapeutics that we have helped develop and accelerate will be judged independently, and, if approved, should be used by all in the population. Because I believe vaccination is likely to be the cornerstone among all the other measures that we have to take to help us really control this pandemic.

I will now pass to my co-leader, General Perna, who will tell you more about the support that the operation has provided to manufacturing of the vaccine and also to their distribution.

Thank you very much.

GOV. GUSTAVE PERNA, U.S. ARMY MATERIEL COMMAND: Mr. President, thank you for allowing me to continue service of our great nation as the co-leader with Dr. Moncef Slaoui on this mission.

Let me start by emphasizing, for me, what is Operation Warp Speed about: It is about saving lives, and it is a herculean task that the president put us on many months ago. And as Dr. Slaoui just laid out, we are making steady progress and we are ready to execute.

Through the whole-of-America approach, we have leveraged the best of nation in federal government, local, states, industry, and academia to expand the capacity and capability to achieve our mission. It has been powerful.

We have capitalized on the best contracting, logistics, and planning experts available to synchronize and integrate all phases of the operation, from development of the vaccine, manufacturing of the vaccine, and finally distribution of the vaccine.

Six months ago, the capacity did not exist in our nation's pharmaceutical production base. We went to work building brick and mortar manufacturing facilities, bringing in the right specialized machinery, and prioritizing supply-chain materials through the Defense Production Act.

Today, we expect to have tens of millions of doses immediately following EUA, and we will distribute them as soon as the FDA applies the EUA. We will do that within 24 hours of the EUA. We are harnessing the strength of commercial industry and the existing vaccine delivery capabilities and infrastructure. Our nation deserves this. Vaccines will be allocated pro rata by population so that we ensure fair and equitable across.

We need the states who are part of the planning to accept the vaccine. We are working closely along with the CDC, the 64 jurisdictions, and states to ensure a vaccine can safely and quickly get to those who need it first. And then we have plans to ensure that it spreads exponentially across our country and that no place is left without a vaccine. At the end of the day, our success is going to be judged by the availability of the vaccine as shots go in arms.

It is the partnerships we have formed with the pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer and Moderna; distribution companies like McKesson, FedEx, and UPS; and pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens that have agreed to do things differently, to think, How can we get this to the American people in the most rapid and expedition -- -- expeditious way? We will be successful because of this all-of-America approach, this collaboration, this effort that everybody is leading towards.

I will end where I started: This is about saving lives, the lives of the great American people. And we will not rest until we are successful and that we have irreversible momentum to returning our nation back to normal.

Thank you, Mr. President.

TRUMP: Thank you very much. Thank you, General, very much. Great job.

Alex, please.

ALEX AZAR, U.S. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: Thank you, Mr.

President, for providing the leadership that's gotten us where we are today. The success that Operation Warp Speed has realized so far has been made possible only because of the bold vision you announced not even six months ago, right here in the Rose Garden.

To highlight three of the remarkable accomplishments we see just this week:

First, Pfizer announced very promising data on its vaccine candidate.

Second, Eli -- second, the FDA authorized and we have begun to distribute and administer Eli Lilly's monoclonal antibody to help Americans at risk for serious disease stay out of the hospital.

Third, another vaccine company, Moderna, announced that it's reached a critical clinical trial milestone, meaning we may see data from them within days.

Back in the spring, we were told by all of the experts that a vaccine was a year or a year and a half away, and the announcements I just highlighted would have been unthinkable. The president said, that's not acceptable. And thanks to the support he's provided, we're now on track to deliver a safe and effective vaccine to our most vulnerable this year.

As I worked with the president to assemble this team and organize this effort, his support was indispensable at each step of the way. We went out and found the very best people on the planet to do the job, who you just talked with: Dr. Slaoui, the world's most successful vaccine developer; General Perna, one of the world's most qualified logistics leaders.

When I first talked to Dr. Slaoui and General Perna about our goals and recruited them to this effort, we dreamed of being at the point we're at

today: on track to achieve the incredibly ambitious goal we set together.

The president gave us the full financial support we needed, enabling us to invest more than $10 billion to de-risk vaccine companies' development efforts and manufacture product in advance.

Our completely unprecedented partnership with the Defense Department has given us a comprehensive public-private plan for distribution and help each Operation Warp Speed vaccine maker secure what they needed for manufacturing, including Pfizer's ongoing production this week.

Operation Warp Speed has always had one goal: saving lives. The president has given OWS the independence it needs to achieve that goal and ensure that we're following the procedures that Americans expect for any medical product they take. At every step, ensuring patient safety has been our top priority.

This process has been driven solely by science and data. So it's a shame that some -- one example being the Governor of New York -- have actually injected politics into the process and suggested the possibility of intentionally delaying access to an FDA-authorized vaccine, which is simply unconscionable.

Because the president has delivered the full funding we need, the best people on the planet, and real independence for this project, Operation Warp Speed is doing something that has never been done before in history.

This success means there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Right now is not the time to let our guard down. We continue to encourage Americans to follow the three W's: Wash your hands; watch your distance; wear a mask when you can't watch your distance; and avoid settings where you can't do those things.

Because of the incredible American spirit, because of what great scientists and public servants and innovators have done through Operation Warp Speed, we have such a bright future ahead of us. If we continue to protect ourselves, our families, and our communities, then I firmly believe that future will be here very soon.

Thank you, Mr. President, for making that very bright future possible for the American people.

TRUMP: Appreciate it. Thank you.

Mike Pence, please.

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you, Mr. President.

And on behalf of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, I was grateful to just have a few minutes today to commend the team of Operation Warp Speed.

It was your vision that we could harness the ingenuity and the creativity of America's greatest pharmaceutical and research companies to speed, in record time, a vaccine that would save American lives.

You told the American people that we would have a vaccine before the end of the year, and some scoffed at that timetable. But I can tell you, the team on Operation Warp Speed didn't; these great research companies didn't.

And as you've articulated here, Mr. President, the American people can be comforted with all the news this week that help is on the way. That literally, pending FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine and perhaps very soon another vaccine that will be submitted by Moderna and even other companies

-- that before the year is out, we'll be able to administer a vaccine to tens of millions of Americans, as you've said Mr. President, beginning with those most vulnerable, beginning with our seniors all across this country, beginning with our health care workers and first responders at the point of the need.

It is an unprecedented medical mobilization, the greatest in the history of our country. And I join you in commending this team.

Let me also say, Mr. President, that the White House Coronavirus Task Force will be meeting with our nation's governors in our regular conference call this Monday. We'll be reviewing with them the progress on the development of a vaccine, our plans for distribution. But we'll also be reviewing each and every state's specific plans for distributing the vaccine, continue to urge governors to have those plans developed and prepared and ready for immediate implementation.

And finally, Mr. President, as we see cases rising around the country, as we see hospitalizations rising around the country, I want to encourage the American people with the news that, as we have done from the very beginning, we're going to continue to move Heaven and Earth to make sure that your family has access to the level of health care that we'd want any one of our members of our family to have.

I spoke to FEMA today, and as we heard reported at our last task force meeting, Mr. President, we're receiving requests from states for PPE, for personnel, but we're meeting all of those requests. And according to our team on the ground, we continue to believe that we'll be able to meet the requests for PPE and equipment -- both from the Strategic National Stockpile, also from the commercial market -- to make sure that those needs are all met.

And the American people can also be confident, because of the system that you established, that since this past July, we're actually able to track PPE -- gowns and gloves and N95 masks -- on a hospital-by-hospital basis, so we can continue to deliver, as you said, Mr. President, on that extraordinary record in America, where no American who has ever required a ventilator has ever been denied a ventilator, no American who has ever been required an ICU bed has ever been denied an ICU bed.

So the good news today, through Operation Warp Speed, Mr. President, is help is on the way. It's on the way right around the corner. As one of the members of our task force said recently, the cavalry is coming. But we want to encourage every American that we're going to continue to make sure that our health care system has the resources, the support, the equipment and supplies that they need.

And we also, Mr. President, as -- as we see cases rising, particularly in -

- in the heartland of this country, but in communities all across America, we encourage every American, as the Secretary did and as you have, to continue to practice good hygiene, wash your hands, practice social distancing, wear a mask when that's not possible.

We all have a role to play. We all know what to do to protect the vulnerable and to look after our families and our neighbors and friends.

And we encourage every American, with all the good news this week, to continue to be persistent in putting the health of yourself, your family, your neighbors, coworkers, and friends first.

And -- and we'll get through this, and we'll get through this together.

Thank you, Mr. President.

TRUMP: Thank you very much, Mike. And thank you, everybody. Thank you very much.

CAVUTO: All right, the president not taking any questions here, just leaving it as an update on the coronavirus and what's happening with the promising case of vaccines, taking a bit of a rib at the chairman of Pfizer, of course, who had said that Operation Warp Speed did not apply to his company.

In fact, the president was right, it did apply to his company. And that company was a beneficiary of a good U.S. investment, as it was a European investment, that allowed not only to speed this, but also to get doses out to the public.

One of the references the president made about the low death count in the United States, while we have the highest death count in the world, I believe he was talking about a percentage that most countries use per 100,000, how many deaths you have in that population.

And, there, the United States ranks 12th, so the behind countries like Mexico and Iran and United Kingdom, Colombia, Brazil, Turkey, and Argentina. So, on that technical basis, if you're looking at sheer size, at a percentage of overall cases, we're much lower than the worst.

We just have the highest count worldwide when it comes to total deaths.

Kevin Corke, he did not address the election issue and the count. That was by design, nor take questions. Your thoughts?

(CROSSTALK)

CORKE: And I think I speak for a number of folks here in the Rose Garden that we were certainly hoping that he would, Neil.

CAVUTO: Go ahead, Kevin. I'm sorry.

(CROSSTALK)

CORKE: Did I lose you?

CAVUTO: No. Go ahead. Go ahead, Kev.

CORKE: No, I was just going to say, I think I speak for everyone here when I say we were certainly hoping that he might address some of the other pressing issues, like, is he going to concede anytime soon?

And if he really feels like this election was stolen, why would he concede?

And there are other issues, too, that have to do with whether or not there should be briefings involving the presumptive president-elect.

We could ask him about the Iran, the IAEA report, so much that did not happen.

CAVUTO: All right.

CORKE: Instead, all Operation Warp Speed -- Neil.

CAVUTO: All right, gotcha. Sorry for that confusion on my part, Kevin.

Thank you very much.

That will do it here. Here comes "The Five."

We will see you tomorrow.

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