President Trump Touts Operation Warp Speed, Saying Americans Get COVID-19 Vaccine First

Tara Mergener
12-08-2020

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Sending a clear "America First" message Tuesday, President Donald Trump wants to make sure the 100 million doses the government purchased from Pfizer are readily available here before aid goes to other countries.  

"American citizens have first priority for the vaccines and then we will be working with other countries all over the world,"  Trump said.

The White House vaccine summit comes two days before the FDA hosts its emergency use authorization hearing for a vaccine.

WATCH President Trump's Opening Comments and the Entire Warp Speed Summit HERE 

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Sunday that all Americans who want a COVID-19 vaccination should be able get one by the second quarter of next year. 

Meanwhile, it was a day for the history books in London, where the United Kingdom kicked off inoculations. Throughout the country, patients and healthcare workers at dozens of hospitals are already getting the shots. 

"It's amazing to see the vaccine come out to pleasing, to see this tremendous shot in the arm for the entire nation, but we can't afford to relax," said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.  

90-year-old Maggie from Northern Ireland became the first official recipient. "Hopefully, it will help people come along and do as I did," she said.

In the United States, more than 102,000 people are currently hospitalized with the virus. 

New data from the Department of Health and Humans Services provides the most detailed picture of how COVID-19 is stressing hospitals big and small, with facilities in 126 counties dangerously full.

Skeptical of the president's rollout of the vaccine, former Vice President Joe Biden held his own event in Delaware to introduce members of his team, who would lead a Biden administration pandemic response.  "There is no detailed plan that we've seen," Biden said. 

BELOW: The Operation Warp Speed Vaccine Summit

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About The Author

Tara
Mergener

Tara Mergener is an award-winning journalist and expert storyteller who spent the majority of her career as a correspondent in Washington, D.C. She worked at CBS Newspath for many years, reporting for all CBS platforms, including CBS News and CBS affiliates throughout the nation. Tara also reported at CNN, Hearst’s Washington, D.C. Bureau, and was a contributor on Full Court Press with Greta Van Susteren. Tara has won dozens of awards for her investigative and political reporting, including Headliner Foundation’s Best Reporter in Texas, multiple Edward R. Murrow awards, Texas Associated Press
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