President Trump and President-elect Joe Biden are locked in a pitched battle to take credit for the vaccines that could bring the COVID-19 pandemic to a close and return life to normal.
All this is taking place against the backdrop of bipartisan “anti-vax” sentiment, leaving some people reluctant to receive the vaccine.
The vaccines were developed and tested under the Trump administration but, barring a legal long shot, will largely be administered by Biden’s.
“America has never been more prepared to combat this virus than we are today,” Vice President Mike Pence said at last month’s announcement that 100 million kits had been assembled for administering the vaccine. Earlier this week, Biden promised 100 million vaccinations within his first 100 days in office.
The president’s allies quickly pointed out that the vaccine and reopening schools were key to the Trump plan too. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany hailed the Pfizer and Moderna products heading into distribution as “the Trump vaccine.”
“From the instant the coronavirus invaded our shores, we raced into action to develop a safe and effective vaccine at breakneck speed. It would normally take five years, six years, seven years, or even more,” Trump said earlier this week. “In order to achieve this goal, we harnessed the full power of government, the genius of American scientists, and the might of American industry to save millions and millions of lives all over the world.”
“Before Operation Warp Speed, the typical time frame for development and approval, as you know, could be infinity,” the president added.
Biden meanwhile promised the public that help was soon on the way. “It’s near the end of one of the toughest years we’ve faced as a nation,” he said in remarks from Wilmington, Delaware. “Out of our collective pain, we’re going to find collective purpose to control the pandemic, to save lives, and to heal as a nation.”
Trump admitted a Biden administration might benefit from “the incredible science” he says was unleashed by his own. “The work that’s been done is incredible, and it will be incredible for the next administration,” he told reporters. “And hopefully, the next administration will be the Trump administration because you can’t steal hundreds of thousands of votes.”
This isn’t the first time Trump and Biden have sparred over COVID-19. The president-elect made flaws in Trump’s management of the outbreak the centerpiece of his campaign. At the vice presidential debate, Kamala Harris called it “the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country.”
But Trump supporters countered that symbolism aside, Biden wasn’t proposing much different from what the incumbent was offering beyond more lockdowns. “The reality is, when you look at the Biden plan, it reads an awful lot like what President Trump and I and our task force have been doing every step of the way,” Pence said. “And quite frankly, when I look at their plan that talks about advancing testing, creating new PPE, developing a vaccine, it looks a little bit like plagiarism, which is something Joe Biden knows a little bit about.”
Outside Washington, it could all be dismissed as noise. “I feel no one cares who gets credit as long as the vaccines are here and being executed in a timely manner,” said Republican strategist Noelle Nikpour. “But I also feel both Biden and Trump will tout credit for the vaccine.”
“No one cares about the battle to take credit for the vaccines,” said Republican strategist Curt Anderson. “It’s not going to affect anything, and anyone demanding credit diminishes themselves in the process. By the time the next elections roll around, no one will be arguing about which politician did what on the vaccine.”
A recent Gallup poll showed 63% of the public is willing to take the vaccine, below the 75% to 85% believed necessary to achieve herd immunity. Democrats were initially worried Trump would rush out a vaccine to help his reelection, now only about 50% of Republicans were ready to be vaccinated. Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton have said they would be willing to receive the vaccine publicly to help boost confidence in it.
“We need to put to rest any concept it was rushed in an inappropriate way,” Anthony Fauci, who has advised both Trump and Biden on COVID-19, said last month. “This is really solid.”
“We see a large number of people in our polls who say that they will likely take the vaccine eventually, but they don’t want to right away, preferring to see how it goes,” Anderson said. “I can’t say if that is quite a majority opinion, but it may be a plurality, at least in some states.”
