
Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of the medical journal The Lancet, told CNN’s Becky Anderson on Friday that President Trump’s statement that a Covid-19 vaccine could be delivered by the end of October is “simply wrong.”
“If we make a mistake and license a vaccine too early – just think – we have already got a growing anti-vaccine movement, which is extremely disturbing. We can't cut corners. There will not be a vaccine available for public use by the end of October. President Trump is simply wrong about that,” Horton said, adding: “I have no understanding why he is saying it. Because his advisers will surely be telling him that that's just impossible.”
Horton said the results of a Russian-developed vaccine are “encouraging” but that it would be “highly premature to think that this is the basis for a successful vaccine for public use,” in part since its study involved a very small number of volunteers.
Horton also lamented what he described as the “unfortunate” tone Moscow used when it presented its vaccine results on Friday, saying: “I think if we start setting nation against nation, vaccine against vaccine, company against company, this is completely going to undermine any kind of rationale response. This is a global crisis, Becky. A global crisis needs a global response and a global solution,” he said. “We do want lots of vaccines that are coming through into phase three trials because some are going to succeed and some are going to fail. But this isn't a war between countries. This should be about cooperation.”
Watch: Richard Horton say delivering the public a vaccine by October is 'impossible'