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◼ REMARKS Bloomberg Businessweek October 12, 2020emblematicofthesilver-bulletapproachthepresidenthas
takenfromthebeginningofthepandemic.InJanuary,Trump
promisedhecouldkeepthevirusoutoftheU.S.byrestricting
passengersarrivingfromChina.Whenthatdidn’twork,and
deathsstartedtosoar,hechampionedhydroxychloroquine,an
oldmalariadrugthathadmeagerdatashowingit mighthelp
againstCovid.TheFoodandDrugAdministrationclearedit
foremergencyuse,buthadtoretracttheauthorizationafter
evidenceshowedit didn’tworkandcouldevencauseheart
rhythmproblems.
Intweets,thepresidentunderminedthereopeningguide-
linesofhisownWhiteHouseCoronavirusTaskForce,encour-
agingstatestoacceleratetheprocess.Andafterscientific
evidencemountedthatmaskscanpreventspread,Trump
stilldidn’tembracethem.Hedidn’twearoneinpublicuntil
July 11 andhasdonesoonlysporadicallysincethen.Atthe
firstpresidentialdebate,twodaysbeforehetestedpositive,
hisfamilydidn’twearmaskswhileseatedinsidetheevent
hall,andTrumpmockedBidenforwearing“thebiggestmask
I’veeverseen.”
Inconsistencyandmagicalthinking atthetop,pub-
lic-healthexpertssay,areamongthemainreasonstheU.S.
nevergotthepandemicundercontrol.“Oneday,it’slikea
miracle,it willdisappear,”Trumpsaidofthevirusbackin
February.Therehasbeennonationwidemaskrequirement
andnotestingstrategy,leavingstategovernmentstosettheir
ownpolicieswhiletheyscrambledforeverythingfromper-
sonalprotectivegeartodiagnostics.Largegatheringscontin-
ued,sowingthepathogenwidely.
Despitetheexpandingclusterinside,theWhiteHousehas
noplanstotrackexposuresfromtheRoseGardenceremony.
(AnadministrationofficialsaysthattheConeyBarrettevent
washeldtoolongagoforthat—andit wouldbetheresponsi-
bilityofthelocalhealthauthorityanyway—butthattheWhite
Houseis tracingcontactsofthosewhotestpositiveorshow
symptomson-sitegoingback 48 hours.)Thisis consistentwith
thelargerindifferencetorampingupcontacttracing,which
hasfloppedintheU.S.becauseoflaggingtestresults,weak-
enedpublic-healthservices,anda broadlackofsupport.
AdditionalmoneyCongresssetasidefortheCDC’stesting
andcontacttracinghasbeendelayedorredirectedtoother
priorities.Trumpis focusedinsteadonacceleratingthedevel-
opmentofpromisingdrugsandvaccines—sometimesatthe
expenseofothermeasuresthatcouldslowtransmission.
WhileCongressdirectedabout$10billiontoOperationWarp
Speed,theadministrationexpandedthefundsavailabletothat
vaccine-focused program to as much as $18 billion, Bloomberg
News reported in September. Some $6 billion was transferred
from the Strategic National Stockpile, part of an allocation
meant to replenish reserves of medical protective gear, venti-
lators, and testing supplies, all of which have seen shortages
this year. The administration also steered $700 million of the
CDC’s funding to Warp Speed.
One drug Warp Speed has funded is the antibody cock-
tail from Regeneron that Trump received. Anthony Fauci, thegovernment’s top infectious disease doctor, views it and other
anti-Covid antibodies being developed at Eli Lilly & Co. as a
bridge to vaccines. Lilly said on Oct. 7 that it’s asked regu-
lators to authorize emergency use of its antibody based on
promising preliminary trial results. But even assuming they
are approved, antibodies by themselves won’t magically solve
the pandemic. Antibodies are even harder and more costly to
manufacture than vaccines, and they’re likely to be in short
supply initially. It may be a while before most people, unlike
the president, can get them.
Then there are vaccines. By all accounts, testing is pro-
ceeding at an unprecedented speed, with immunizations from
Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson in giant final-stage
trials in the U.S. A fourth big U.S. trial of an AstraZeneca shot
is on hold while regulators conduct safety checks. The first of
these trial results could come this fall, leading to an emergency
authorization for some vaccines by year’s end. But it’s just not
the case that vaccines will be widely available “momentar-
ily,” as the president suggested in a video on the night he left
the hospital, vaccine experts say. On Oct. 6, the FDA issued
strict requirements for vaccine applications that will likely slow
down the timeline. Trump called this a “political hit job.”
Even if they were ready, the shots wouldn’t immediately
eradicate the virus. Supplies may be limited at first, and autho-
rization will likely be restricted to a select group of health-
care workers and others at high risk. It will take months to
get vaccines to the broader public. They may be only partially
effective, and some people may refuse to take them, notes
Vanderbilt University infectious disease specialist William
Schaffner. That means, he says, some social distancingwill
likelybeneededevenaftera vaccinebecomesavailable.
Thereis nosilverbulletwhenit comestotamingthecorona-
virus, just the hard, grinding work of putting together basic
interventions, from mask-wearing to contact tracing, on a
massivescale.Sofar,thevirushaskilledmorethan210,
Americans—sixtimesasmanyasdieinmotorvehicleaccidents
annually—and infected more than 7.5 million. As the weather
turns colder, sending people indoors, Covid is on the upswing
again. Thirty-four states are seeing more cases than they were
a month ago, and hot spots like Wisconsin and the Dakotas
are hitting new peaks. “It is just mind-blowing to me, when
we have the ability to control further spread of the infection,
we are not doing it,” says Leana Wen, a public-health profes-
sor at George Washington University and former Baltimore
health commissioner.
President Trump downplayed the virus again during his
hospitalization at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
“Don’t be afraid of Covid,” he tweeted. That night, standing
before news cameras after returning to the White House, he
triumphantly removed his mask. But SARS-CoV-2 is still out
there, ready to infect new victims at any opportunity. It’s estab-
lished itself around the world and is settling down for the long
haul. Far from being a quick fight, the battle with the virus will
be fought for many months, and possibly years, to come. <BW>
�With John Tozzi and Josh Wingrove