New York Post, Thursday, December 3, 2020nypost.comoutbreak
The White House wasn’t noti-
fied before Britain approved the
use of an experimental coronavi-
rus vaccine developed in the US,
press secretary Kayleigh McEn-
any said Wednesday.
“I’m not aware of any heads-up
that we were given,” McEnany
said.
The unexpected move by the
UK put it at least a week ahead of
the US in dispensing the vaccine
developed by American drug-
maker Pfizer and Germany’s Bi-
oNTech. The Food and Drug Ad-
ministration isn’t scheduled to
consider authorizing emergency
use of the vaccine until Dec. 10.
President Trump has been de-
manding to know why the US
isn’t moving faster to approve
the vaccine, leading his chief of
staff, Mark Meadows, and Health
and Human Services Secretary
Alex Azar to grill FDA Commis-
sioner Stephen Hahn and other
agency officials about it this
week, Politico reported.
But European Union officials
questioned Britain’s speedy de-
cision with the European Medi-
cines Agency, calling its own re-
view process — which could
lead to approval Dec. 29 — “the
most appropriate regulatory
mechanism for use in the cur-
rent pandemic emergency.”
Ebony Bowden, Noah ManskarAustin’s Democratic mayor
has joined the growing list of
elected officials who don’t fol-
low their own COVID-19 gui-
dance — urging his constitu-
ents to “stay home” while on
vacation in the Mexican resort
town of Cabo San Lucas.
In a Nov. 9 Facebook video
message, Austin Mayor Steve
Adler told residents not to
travel amid surging coronavirus
infections.
But Adler failed to mention
that he was dishing out the ad-
vice from a vacation in Cabo
San Lucas, where he traveled
aboard a private jet, according
to ABC affiliate KVUE.
Adler confirmed to the sta-
tion that he was vacationing
with eight people in Mexico
after hosting his daughter’s
wedding in Austin several days
earlier. Ebony BowdenHypocrisy of
Texas mayor
US given
no FYI on
UK’s OK
Pokey: The first batch of the state’s Reuters
coronavirus vaccine is expected in mid-
December, but details over funding of
distribution were largely undisclosed by
Gov. Cuomo at his briefing Wednesday (left).Prevention and is available to
withdraw via mechanisms used for
other federal health funding to
states, such as annual flu vaccines,
a Trump administration official
said. “This is a process that states
use every year to draw down funds
for immunizations and vaccines,”
the insider said. “It’s available now,
and other states and territories are
drawing from it.”
Confronted with Cuomo’s lack
of drawing on the funds despite
griping they didn’t exist, state offi-
cials said Wednesday they did in-
tend to take them but could not of-
fer a good answer as to why they
had not. “This is merely account-
ing, as the state has already ac-
crued expenses in excess of the $
million for preparation and plan-
ning for the distribution of the vac-
cine,” said Freeman Klopott, a
spokesman for the state Division
of the Budget.
Klopott then pointed to Cuomo’s
estimate that a “real outreach edu-
cation campaign” promoting the
vaccine to New Yorkers could cost
$1 billion.
“We’ve accrued more expenses
than the funding that’s available,
and it’s merely accounting as to
when we draw it down,” he said.
New York City is responsible for
drawing down its own federal
funds, state officials said.
Even once the vaccine is ready,
Cuomo will insist on his own state
panel reviewing it, after voicingskepticism about the level of scru-
tiny in the FDA under Trump.
“We have a New York panel, the
New York panel will review the
FDA’s approval,” said Cuomo.
“Why? Because we know we have
existing skepticism about the vac-
cine. A panel did not create the
skepticism. The skepticism ex-
isted, and that’s why we created
the review panel.”
The US has already been beaten
to the punch across the pond, how-
ever, with the United Kingdom on
Wednesday becoming the first
Western nation to authorize the
widespread use of a coronavirus
vaccine. Britain’s Medicines and
Healthcare products Regulatory
Agency approved the Pfizer andBioNTech vaccine, which provides
95 percent protection against the
virus, making it both safe and ef-
fective, according to the BBC.
Pfizer responded to the approval
by announcing it would immedi-
ately begin shipping limited sup-
plies to the UK, and the country
expects to start immunizing high-
priority groups in days. Pfizer
CEO Albert Bourla called the UK
decision “a historic moment.”
“We are focusing on moving
with the same level of urgency to
safely supply a high-quality vac-
cine around the world,” Bourla
said in a statement.
Additional reporting by Nolan
Hicks, Natalie Musumeci and
Aaron FeisPokey:
coronavirus vaccine is expected in mid-
December, but details over funding of
distribution were largely undisclosed by
Gov. Cuomo at his briefing Wednesday (left).