A New Adventure

Two miracles in one week

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This Thanksgiving we have much to be thankful for, not the least of which are two miracles that occurred earlier this month.
I’m not talking about a piece of toast that has the image of Jesus burnt onto it or the potato that was recently grown in Japan in the shape of a peace sign. (Look it up on the Internet, it’s crazy. It’s a potato in the shape of a hand making a peace sign).
I’m talking about the two vaccines for COVID-19 that will start distribution by the end of this year. This is truly a miracle.
This will be the fastest time any vaccine has been developed for use. You might say it was done at “warp speed.”
In April, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, estimated the soonest a vaccine would arrive was 12 to 18 months. That would be April to October 2021.
Typically it takes one to three decades to develop a viable vaccine. Here are five vaccines and the time it took for each to be approved and used.
Varicella — 28 years
FluMist — 28 years
Human Papillomavirus — 15 years
Rotavirus — 15 years
Pediatric Combination — 11 years
To say that many Democrats and those in the national media downplayed President Donald Trump any time he asserted that we would have a vaccine by the end of 2020 is an understatement. After all, a vaccine under Trump’s watch would be a political win for him.
After Trump claimed, during the second presidential debate, that a vaccine would be coming by the end of the year, the Miami Herald cited scientific experts who claimed: “there’s no way that’s happening, at least not with a vaccine that has proven safe and effective through appropriately timed clinical trials.”
On May 14 Trump tweeted, “Vaccine work is looking VERY promising, before end of year.”
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, in May, essentially accused the administration of lying about a vaccine.
In a fact-check article, NBC News called Trump’s prediction false citing prominent health experts and veteran vaccine developers who said a vaccine is “unlikely absent a miracle.”
Well looks like we are going to have not one but two miracles.
The first vaccine was announced last week by Pfizer and BioNTech. It was developed and will be produced as part of the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed, introduced back in April to fast-track the development of vaccines for COVID-19.
The program “cleared away much of the red tape that usually makes drug approvals a long and drawn-out process,” according to Dr. G.E. Ghali.
Marco Rubio tweeted last Wednesday, “Years from now #OperationWarpSpeed will be considered one of the greatest American achievements of the 21st century. Those of us not suffering from a case of severe Anti-Trump derangement are ready to begin recognizing that now.”
The second miracle vaccine is coming from Moderna, who also was a major beneficiary of federal government funds through Operation Warp Speed.
After the first miracle was announced New York Gov Andrew Cuomo (D) said he wants to work with other state governors to fix or halt the vaccine’s distribution.
With over 1,000 Americans dying each day from COVID-19, why would anyone want to postpone or slow distribution of a vaccine? Answer: politics.
In an interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulous, he said “I think his (Biden’s) first step saying let’s focus on the science, let’s depoliticize testing data, listen to the scientists is the exact opposite of Trump but you have two months and we can’t let this vaccination plan go forward.”
Just another attempt at Democrats trying to bring about the “unity and healing” that Joe Biden has asked for (see my column from Nov 18).
During the Vice-President debate Democrat Kamala Harris said, concerning a vaccine, “If Donald Trump tells me I should take it, I’m not taking it.”
Anyone adding doubt concerning a vaccine will only add to the death toll.
Pfizer has said it expects to produce 50 million doses by the end of the year with Moderna looking to produce 20 million doses.
This is what can be done in a capitalist country. This is what can be done in the greatest country in the world — the United States of America — with a President who puts America first.