WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Monday called on pharmaceutical companies to release data to prove the effectiveness of their COVID-19 drugs, including vaccines, saying there is disagreement over whether they saved lives.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote: “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! With CDC being ripped apart over this question, I want the answer, and I want it NOW.”
The US President said he had been shown “extraordinary” information from Pfizer and other firms but questioned why the data had not been made public.
He added: “Why not??? They go off to the next ‘hunt’ and let everyone rip themselves apart, including Bobby Kennedy Jr. and CDC, trying to figure out the success or failure of the Drug Companies Covid work.”
Trump’s comments come amid growing upheaval at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Last week, the US President dismissed CDC director Susan Monarez just a month into her tenure after she clashed with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccine policy.
Kennedy, a longtime vaccine sceptic, has faced internal resistance since his appointment, and three senior CDC officials resigned in protest of his leadership. Jim O’Neill, a close ally of Kennedy, has been named acting CDC director.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) further tightened vaccine eligibility on 27 August, recommending that only people over 65 or those with serious health conditions receive the latest COVID-19 shots.
Trump, who launched Operation Warp Speed in 2020 to fast-track vaccine development, insisted he wanted clarity on whether the programme had lived up to its billing.
“I hope OPERATION WARP SPEED was as ‘BRILLIANT’ as many say it was. If not, we all want to know about it, and why???” he wrote.
The vaccines were rolled out in 2021 under former President Joe Biden, but uptake among Trump’s base was uneven.
Trump himself was booed at a rally in December 2021 after revealing he had taken a booster shot.
US Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana and chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labour and Pensions, welcomed Trump’s call for transparency.
“We need to know what the data says and where it is coming from, so the CDC and HHS can make the best decisions,” Cassidy said in a statement.
He argued critics of Operation Warp Speed often misrepresented facts and praised Trump for pushing “radical transparency.”
Cassidy also urged the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel to postpone its next meeting, scheduled for 18 September, citing the leadership crisis and concerns about scientific integrity raised by the officials who resigned.
Trump said releasing the data would “clear up this mess, one way or the other,” while debates over the vaccines’ effectiveness continue to divide health officials, politicians and the public.
