AP: Pushed to rush, FDA head says feds will get vaccine ‘right’
“The head of the agency responsible for authorizing COVID-19 vaccines said Tuesday that it would take the time needed to ‘get this right,’ despite increasing pressure from President Donald Trump to speed up the process. ‘No one at FDA is sitting on his or her hands. Everyone is working really hard to look at these applications and get this done,’ Stephen Hahn, the head of the Food and Drug Administration, told ABC in an interview on Instagram Live. ‘But we absolutely have to do this the right way’…” (Lemire et al., 12/1).

POLITICO: Trump to FDA: Why is Europe beating us on vaccine?
“A president who preached ‘America First’ is demanding to know why the United States could end up third, or worse, in the global vaccine race. President Donald Trump and his deputies are privately admonishing Food and Drug Administration officials for not moving faster to authorize promising coronavirus vaccines — a push partially motivated by Trump’s desire to claim credit for record-fast vaccine development, four officials said…” (Diamond et al., 12/1).

STAT: White House to host Covid-19 vaccine summit, as Trump seeks to burnish record
“The Trump administration has invited leading vaccine manufacturers, drug distributors, and government officials to a ‘Covid-19 Vaccine Summit’ next week, just two days before a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee meeting to consider the first U.S. application for a Covid-19 vaccine. The meeting, set for Dec. 8, will feature President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and several governors and private-sector executives, according to an invitation obtained by STAT. Industry officials familiar with plans for the summit interpreted it as an opportunity for the White House to pressure the FDA to quickly issue emergency authorizations for the first two vaccines candidates to be reviewed — one developed by the partnership of Pfizer and BioNTech and the other developed by Moderna — as well as to ensure Trump receives credit for the breakneck pace of vaccine development to take place under his watch…” (Facher, 12/1).