Trump holds vaccine summit to boost public confidence in COVID-19 vaccine

WASHINGTON — President Trump said he wants every American to get the COVID-19 vaccine before the U.S. sends any doses overseas.

The president signed the new executive order for the plan during a summit on the COVID-19 vaccine at the White House Tuesday which was meant to build public confidence in the process.

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“This is going to be the most difficult vaccine distribution in the history of the planet,” U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams told our Washington Bureau in a one-on-one interview ahead of the start of the summit.

Adams said the federal government will get the vaccines to the states and the governors and state health departments will be responsible for local distribution.

We asked Adams how the government will convince the American public that the vaccine rollout will be successful after the missteps by the federal government at the onset of the pandemic.

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“Well, what I want the American public to understand is we’ve been working with academic organizations, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine,” Adams said. “It’s about really leveraging the best of science and technology.”

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During the summit, President Trump touted the success of Operation Warp Speed.

“We did something that nobody thought was possible,” Trump said. “Every American who wants the vaccine will be able to get the vaccine.”

Cox Media Group