President Donald Trump said he might not approve the stricter standards the US Food and Drug Administration is developing for authorizing a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, Politico reports.
By issuing stronger requirements, FDA was hoping to boost public confidence in a coronavirus vaccine. The Washington Post reported earlier this week that the new standards could, for instance, require vaccine developers to follow trial volunteers for a median two months after they received their last dose before seeking authorization. That, the Post noted, would make it unlikely that any of the candidate vaccines now in late-stage trials would be ready to do so by the early November Election Day in the US.
But, as Politico reports, President Trump says the guidelines have to be approved by the White House. "We may or may not approve it," he adds, according to Politico. He further said that FDA's move to revise the guidelines "was a political move more than anything else."
It adds that President Trump's "criticism throws into jeopardy an effort viewed as key to boosting public confidence in any eventual coronavirus vaccine."