Billy Long: When vaccine is completed, Trump will have achieved one of greatest humanitarian efforts in history

(From Seventh District Congressman Billy Long)

I know we’re all sick of this word, but when it comes to this year’s Thanksgiving, “unprecedented” is one of the first words many of us would use to describe it. 

Instead of traveling across the country to participate in gatherings with loved ones, many Americans opted for smaller Thanksgiving meals if they even did anything at all. 

This year, it was hard not to think of what might have been, hard not to miss family feasts reminiscent of a Norman Rockwell painting, and I imagine many Americans felt a bit sad thinking about the stark contrasts between this year’s Thanksgiving and last year’s. 

Now more than ever, I think many of us need good news to cling to, which is why the recent successes of President Trump’s Operation Warp Speed couldn’t come at a better time.

Just six months ago, President Trump announced Operation Warp Speed, a historic endeavor to facilitate a massive scientific, industrial, and logistical partnership between the federal government and private industry with the end goal of delivering a COVID vaccine to the American people in record time. 

The federal government is using unprecedented cooperation with private industry to create a vaccine that expedites production without compromising the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s high safety and effectiveness standards, and we expect to deliver a vaccine to the American people by early 2021. 

Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced that data from clinical trials suggests multiple vaccine candidates may be more than 90% effective, inching us a step closer to realizing the President’s vision of delivering a vaccine to Americans by year’s end. 

In October the FDA authorized the restart of U.S. trials for AstraZeneca’s COVID vaccine, marking a significant stride towards production for this vaccine candidate. 

As part of the standard review process, a voluntary pause was triggered in the trials in early September so independent monitoring committees could assess the safety data, ultimately coming to the conclusion that trials were safe to resume. 

It’s paramount that the path to a COVID vaccine be transparent and truthful because the American public’s faith in the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness is critical to finding a successful treatment for the Coronavirus. 

As this candidate enters the final steps of the FDA’s rigorous vetting process, AstraZeneca has pledged its full cooperation with outside regulators and remain committed to helping President Trump achieve his vision.

Last week, an independent data and safety monitoring board announced that the NIH-Moderna COVID vaccine showed promising data that suggests that the vaccine is safe and effective at preventing COVID-19 in adults. The study indicates that the vaccine has an effectiveness rate of 94.5%. The findings were consistent across different populations, including elderly, ethnic and minority groups. Pfizer and BioNTech shared similar promising news and announced that their vaccine is 95% effective, clearing the way for the companies to file for emergency use authorization from the FDA.

As the world’s leader in COVID treatment research and development, our ability to defeat this virus hinges on Operation Warp Speed’s success as it becomes increasingly unlikely that another country will beat the U.S. in developing a safe and effective vaccine. Per Warp Speed’s mandate, no corners are being cut and the vaccines will absolutely not be distributed unless they are up to traditional FDA standards, and Warp Speed partners are coordinating with state and local health departments for an efficient vaccine distribution. 

While the speed may be unprecedented, the safety and efficacy have not been compromised. 

When completed, President Trump will have achieved one of the greatest humanitarian efforts in history, and it’s important that the country supports this effort regardless of political beliefs. Some things are bigger than politics, and every American should celebrate these critical milestones as we move closer to a vaccine.