Former President Donald Trump condemned President Joe Biden’s administration for pausing the delivery of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine Tuesday.
“The Biden Administration did a terrible disservice to people throughout the world by allowing the FDA and CDC to call a ‘pause’ in the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine,” Trump wrote in a statement sent to reporters.
The decision to pause administration of the vaccine was announced by the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday morning citing “extremely rare” cases of blood clots among recipients.
Trump defended the “extraordinary” results of the vaccine but lamented the company’s vaccine would never recover its reputation after the pause was announced by federal regulators.
The former president floated a theory that the decision was done for political reasons or due to “the FDA’s love for Pfizer.”
“The FDA, especially with long-time bureaucrats within, has to be controlled,” he wrote. “They should not be able to do such damage for possibly political reasons, or maybe because their friends at Pfizer have suggested it.”
Trump criticized the reputation of the FDA, reminding Americans they failed to approve the coronavirus vaccine for emergency use until two days after the 2020 presidential election.
“They didn’t like me very much because I pushed them extremely hard,” he wrote.
Trump urged the FDA to test the vaccine quickly and shift it back into circulation.
“Do your testing, clean up the record, and get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine back online quickly,” he wrote. “The only way we defeat the China Virus is with our great vaccines!”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.