Vice President Mike Pence became the most recent American to get Pfizer's COVID vaccine Friday morning. Although the media said it couldn't be done, Operation Warp Speed, the public-private partnership introduced by President Trump only in May which helped fund the development of several vaccine candidates, resulted in the delivery of a vaccine in record time.
Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, a frequent critic of the Trump White House, said he had to give credit where it's due.
"The Warp Speed project appears to be a dramatic success, and I pray that it will be," Durbin said on the Senate floor on Thursday. "Although I've been a frequent critic of this administration, I want to give them credit for organizing this effectively and delivering a vaccine in a timely way, almost amazing timely way.”
Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin: “the Warp Speed project appears to be a dramatic success...I want to give [the @realDonaldTrump administration] credit for organizing this effectively and delivering a vaccine in a timely way, almost amazing timely way”pic.twitter.com/XoiizCkqaR
— Tommy Pigott (@TCPigott) December 17, 2020
Sen. Durbin's speech is a far cry from Democrats like vice president-elect Kamala Harris who during her debate with Vice President Pence in October said that she would tell Americans not to take a vaccine that Trump told them to take. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo also said he'd question any vaccine that comes out of this administration and threatened to block distribution of it until his own handpicked team of advisors analyzes it.
A sizable number of Americans have admitted in polling that they're nervous to take the vaccine. But Dr. Anthony Fauci and other health experts have insisted that the speed of the process did not jeopardize the safety of the finished product.
Last Friday the FDA approved an emergency authorization request from Pfizer to start distributing the vaccine they developed with BioNTech. Moderna is expected to be given the green light on Friday.