Remarks by VP Pence
But it would be in May of this year that the President launched Operation Warp Speed that you have heard in great detail today. The President said then that they were looking to get a vaccine by the end of the year. But in August, President Trump made a promise. He actually said, and I quote, “We will have a safe and effective vaccine this year.” And here we are.
The President’s promise was met with considerable skepticism not only in the scientific community, but across the public debate. But as we stand here today and we celebrate what we believe is the likely approval of two safe and effective coronavirus vaccines, the American people deserve to know that there are actually four vaccine candidates in large, phase three clinical trials as we speak.
Operation Warp Speed, we believe, is about to commence, it’s about to save lives, and it will continue to expand, to the benefit of the American people and the world… (Applause.)
…it’s amazing to think: When I was tapped to lead the White House Coronavirus Task Force, we’d done less than 10,000 coronavirus tests in America. Today, we do roughly 2 million a day and have done more than 200 million coronavirus tests, giving us greater visibility on the impact of the pandemic and — and those who are in harm’s way.
We marshalled the full power of the American economy early on, not just in this project, but in the development of PPE and equipment. We literally saw to the manufacture and delivery of billions of medical supplies.
And while we see cases rising and hospitalization rising across the country, with our team on the ground here working closely with governors, we literally are able to track hospital capacity on a hospital-by-hospital basis, and we’re going to continue to work around the clock to make sure our hospitals and our healthcare workers have the PPE and supplies they need to give any American family the same level of care that we’d want a member of our family to have. (Applause.)
The story of therapeutics is also an extraordinary one. I remember, in early March, when we gathered all the great research companies together in the Cabinet Room and the President challenged each and every one of them not only to go to work on a vaccine, but to go to work on the development of medicines — therapeutics that would give people relief who were impacted by the coronavirus.
And as we stand here today, the FDA has literally approved dozens and dozens of lifesaving therapeutics. And I’m actually told that we’ve already delivered 185,000 doses of therapeutics to coronavirus patients across America. It’s extraordinary. (Applause.)
And the truth is, even as we see cases rising around the country and hospitalizations rising, I want the American people to know that we’ve never been better prepared to combat the coronavirus than we are today. This is a time of great promise and hope for the American people.
But, that being said, with the rising cases across America, it’s also a time of renewed vigilance. As we close today what is, I know, for all of us gathered here and all of those looking on, a time of great promise, a time of great encouragement, the American people should know that we all still have work to do — that every single one of us has a role to play. With cases rising and hospitalizations rising in virtually every jurisdiction around America, it’s time once again to redouble our efforts to put the health of our families, our neighbors, and our communities first.
And we all know what to do. The American people demonstrated, in the early days of March and April, that we know how to slow the spread. We know how to flatten the curve. We know how to save lives. Practice good hygiene. Wash your hands. Practice social distancing or wear a mask when it’s not possible or whenever local authorities indicate that it’s appropriate. It’s the way that we got through the early days of this pandemic and we flattened the curve, saved lives. It’s the way we got through the Sun Belt outbreak. And it’s the way we’ll see our way through the — the months ahead between now and when the coronavirus vaccine that will likely be approved this week will be widely available for every American…
https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-vice-president-pence-operation-warp-speed-vaccine-summit/