Trump Accuses Pfizer Of Delaying Vaccine Trial Announcement Until After Election Day

President Donald Trump on Monday alleged that Pfizer and BioNTech “didn’t have the courage” to release its positive vaccine results before the presidential election.

Trump said that the Food and Drug Administration should have made the announcement earlier and indirectly blamed them for withholding it for “political purposes.”

“As I have long said, @Pfizer and the others would only announce a Vaccine after the Election, because they didn’t have the courage to do it before. Likewise, the @US_FDA should have announced it earlier, not for political purposes, but for saving lives!” Trump tweeted.

In an additional tweet Trump suggested without evidence that if President-elect Joe Biden had been in charge, "you wouldn't have the Vaccine for another four years, nor would the FDA have ever approved it so quickly."

Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., was also quick to stir the pot on Twitter and said: “The timing of this is pretty amazing. Nothing nefarious about the timing of this at all right?”

Pfizer and BioNTech on Sunday announced that its potential coronavirus vaccine prevented more than 90% of infections after it was tested in a late-stage clinical trial which included thousands of participants.

“The first set of results from our Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trials provides the initial evidence of our vaccine’s ability to prevent Covid-19,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla had said in a statement.

Bourla first learned of the trial results on Sunday, he told CNN in an interview on Monday, adding that he hadn't yet seen the data yet himself.

When questioned about the post-election timing of the vaccine results, Bourla said Pfizer had simply released them "when the science told us the data was available."

Trump had previously called Pfizer's vaccine results "SUCH GREAT NEWS!" However, his tone clearly changed later in the day and accused the pharmaceutical company of using its vaccine information for political gain.

Pfizer did not receive federal funding from Operation Warp Speed. Its partner, BioNTech SE, received funding from the German government.

"We were never part of the Warp Speed. We have never taken any money from the U.S. government, or from anyone," said Dr. Kathrin Jansen, Pfizer's senior vice president and head of vaccine research and development.