New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he is not confident in the Trump Administration’s creation of a vaccine, urging Americans to remain skeptical about its viability.
“I’m not that confident, but my opinion doesn’t matter. I don’t believe the American people are that confident,” he said to George Stephanopoulos on ABC News on Monday.
“You are going to say to the American people, now, here’s a vaccine, it is new, it was done quickly, but trust this federal administration and their health administration that it’s safe? And we’re not 100% sure of the consequences? I think it’s going to be a very skeptical American public about taking the vaccine and it should be.”
Gov. @andrewcuomo: Americans “should be” skeptical of any Covid vaccine the CDC/FDA clear for use pic.twitter.com/yBkVsXIOWn
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) October 19, 2020
The governor, who began advising in March that hospitals return infected coronavirus patients to nursing homes where the most vulnerable to the virus live, killing many, stated his disdain for a Trump Administration’s recommended vaccine.
Despite his previous insistence to “follow the science,” Cuomo said he does not trust the medical experts in the White House or FDA and CDC, claiming that he will be forming a group of medical doctors and experts to provide him and the state of New York with a consensus on the vaccine.
“What I said I’m going to do in New York, because we’re going to put together our own group of doctors and medical experts to review the vaccine and the efficacy and the protocol, and if they say it’s safe, then I’ll go to the people of New York and I will say it’s safe with that credibility,” Cuomo said.
“I believe all across the country, you’re going to need someone other than this FDA, and this CDC, saying it’s safe,” Cuomo added.
He also expressed his hope for a new administration that will establish a CDC and FDA with credibility that Cuomo believes he can trust and will administer the vaccine the way he believes is medically sound.
“What they’re saying is the day we get the vaccine, that’s when it ends. That’s not true,” Cuomo stated. “The day we get the vaccine, we then have to prove to the American people that it’s safe. We then have to administer millions of doses, and that is a massive undertaking that this administration hasn’t even talked about, and is going to take months. And if it’s not done right, will be a debacle…”
Cuomo’s criticism of the anticipated vaccine joins many other Democratic and mainstream media voices urging the public to question the vaccine if it is marketed and recommended by Trump.
Two weeks ago, Democratic VP Nominee Kamala Harris announced her defiance of Trump and the vaccine during the vice presidential debate.
“If the public health professionals, if Dr. Fauci, if the doctors tell us that we should take it, I’ll be the first in line to take it. Absolutely,” Harris said, adding, “If Donald Trump tells us to take it, I’m not taking it.”
