Operation Warp Speed Chief Addresses ‘Hesitancy’ Around Vaccines: Political ‘Noise’ Never Translated Into ‘Any Kind of Interference’

Dr. Moncef Slaoui, the head of Operation Warp Speed, said on Fox News Sunday that despite the political “noise” surrounding the work they’ve been doing, there has been no political interference that’s gotten in the way.

Slaoui told Chris Wallace the plan is to have 14 million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines available all around the U.S. by the end of the year, with tens of millions more distributed in January and February.

“We hope to have immunized 100 million people, which would be the long-term care facility people, the elderly people with comorbidities, the first line workers, the health care workers. It’s about 120 million people. We would have immunized 100 million people by the first quarter of 2021 with two doses of vaccines,” he said.

Wallace asked when the U.S. will be able to feel it’s turned a corner and “you and I will feel safe going out in a crowd.”

“We need to have immunized about 75 or 80 percent of the U.S. population before herd immunity can really be established,” Slaoui responded. “We hope to reach that point between the month of May and the month of June.”

One thing he made a point of highlighting was his concern about the “level of hesitancy” about vaccines, emphasizing that people should “keep their mind open to listen to the data and hopefully agree that this is a very effective and safe vaccine, and therefore take it.”

Wallace followed up on those doubts, showing numbers about a concerning yet significant percentage of the population that is either unsure of the vaccine or is flat-out saying they won’t get it. “If more than half of Americans didn’t get the vaccine, what would that mean for the pandemic? Would it continue?”

Slaoui grimly said it would mean “a lot of people dying, a lot of people in hospitals”:

“I’m very concerned by this level of hesitancy that is not anchored in any facts or data. Unfortunately, there was so much politics around in the context of developing this vaccine, there’s been a confusion between how thorough and scientific and factual the work that has been done is, and the perception that people are thinking that we cut corners or anything like that. I can guarantee you that no such things have happened, that we follow the science. It’s actually a remarkable achievement of science, academia, the industry ecosystem and the U.S. government working together relentlessly that has allowed this to happen.”

Wallace asked about the reported call from the White House pressuring the head of the FDA on the vaccine. Slaoui said if the reports are accurate, it was “useless and unfortunate.”

“And so are some of the tweets,” he added.

“There was a lot of noise on top of us in terms of the politics and the tweets and, you know, the campaigns, et cetera, on all parties, but that did never translate into any kind of interference of any sort,” Slaoui emphasized. “And I would assume that the FDA behaved exactly the same way. People can talk on top of the news, et cetera, but the experts are working and doing their work in the relentless way, just focusing on the science and the data.”

You can watch above, via Fox News Sunday.