New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently denied Trump’s comments about the newly developed COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer — claimed to be 90 percent effective — once again affirming his denial in the science surrounding COVID-19.
During an Operation Warp Speed update on Friday, President Donald J. Trump announced America will have millions of COVID-19 vaccinations distributed throughout the states. According to Trump, however, New York would not be receiving the vaccine until Cuomo approved it.
“As soon as April, the vaccine will be available to the entire general population, except for places like New York state where for political reasons, the governor decided to say … he wants to take his time with the vaccine. He doesn’t trust where the vaccines are coming from,” Trump said. “These are coming from the greatest companies anywhere in the world’s greatest labs in the world, but he doesn’t trust the fact that it’s this White House, this administration.”
“Governor Cuomo will have to let us know when he’s ready for it. Otherwise, we can’t be delivering it to a state that won’t be giving it to its people immediately,” Trump continued. “And I know many I know the people in New York very well. I know they want it.”
Just weeks before, the governor publicly rejected the Trump Administration’s efforts to move forward implementing a COVID-19 vaccine, vowing to work with other governors to stop its distribution “before it does damage.”
“You have two months and we can’t let this vaccination plan go forward the way the Trump administration is designing it because Biden can’t undo it and two months later will be in the midst of it,” Cuomo said.
Journalists and the mainstream media, however, ignored Trump’s reasoning for keeping a vaccine from New York and took his comments out of context to make it look like Trump was settling a personal vengeance against the governor.
Shortly after the president’s address in the Rose Garden, Cuomo joined multiple broadcast networks to deny Trump’s comments.
“None of what he said is true. Surprise, surprise,” Cuomo said. “We’re all excited about the possibilities of a vaccine.”
Instead of acknowledging that he wouldn’t be implementing vaccine distribution until after his state’s review, Cuomo blamed Trump’s unwillingness to give New York a vaccine on the fears of potential “political interference,” citing polls that show Americans are losing trust in a vaccine, completely ignoring the fact that he helped promote this skepticism.
“He has issues with New York, and he likes to point in New York but this is his issue. It’s his credibility issue. It’s the fear that he politicized the health process of this nation, which is a well-founded fear,” Cuomo said.
“An overwhelming percentage of Americans are worried about political interference in the vaccination process in the approval process by the President,” he added. “The American people trust the drug company more than they trust the President.”
On Saturday, Trump noted Cuomo’s opinion about him has shifted since the beginning of the pandemic, posting a supercut of the governor’s praises of him on his Twitter page.
In March, Cuomo issued a mandate requiring COIVD-19-positive patients to return from hospitals to their nursing homes. His policy has been strongly condemned by many and is thought to have caused the deaths of multiple New Yorkers in long-term care facilities.
