Amidst the confusion and chaos of a global pandemic, there is a significant group of people who refuse to wear masks despite established evidence of their effectiveness.
If their emphasis on personal freedom, their misrepresentation of science and their passion for defending their position is familiar, it is probably because the tactics have been used for years by another group: anti-vaccines. Both share important similarities.
First, there is the emphasis on personal choice, freedom and rights. "He's my son, I decide about him," in the case of the anti-vaccine, and "I have rights. You can't make me wear a mask," in the case of the mask. Both have taken root in the context of a cultural moment that emphasizes the individual over the community, self-interest over the common good.
It is no coincidence, then, that pleas to wear a mask to show respect and protect others, or to get vaccinated to achieve what is commonly known as herd immunity, have fallen on deaf ears. Both movements have also misrepresented and questioned scientific knowledge and sometimes even attacked health experts in an attempt to discredit them.
Antivaccines continue to claim that vaccines cause autism, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, and anti-sniffs have claimed that wearing a snorkel makes carbon dioxide levels rise to dangerous levels - not true.
Both the anti-vaccine and the anti-smoking device have promoted behaviors, along with the misinformation and mistrust they've sown, that are dangerous, especially at a time when COVID-19 continues to cause thousands of deaths every day and the country faces an uphill battle to convince Americans to use a mask, as well as get a vaccine against the virus, which is sure to happen soon.
People's opposition to using the mouthpiece has to do with their personality traits, the individual way they react to each situation. Resisting its use can respond to multiple causes, fear, rebellion, confusion, vanity, ignorance, among others. For some, complying with these measures can mean the loss of their freedoms. Or feeling that they are bowing down to others, showing weakness according to their criteria. When people are told what to do, there is a tendency to question it and resist.
It's the psychological tendency to react to people telling you what to do. People who have conflicts with authority often oppose it, cannot follow orders, reveal themselves, and this is usually gestated from childhood. There is also the defiant negativistic disorder, they are individuals who oppose and challenge everything, nothing convinces them or satisfies them.
In these and previous ones it is totally predictable that they will oppose the use of mouthguards. People with antisocial personality disorder can be expected to refuse to use masks because they have no social conscience. Some are embarrassed to see that they are afraid of getting infected, they have a misunderstanding of personal weakness. Some more are those who, under any circumstances, put doubt, not reason, first.
A doubt that goes through the guts more than the brain. They are those who believe that the COVID-19 is an invention, does not exist and is used to control others. Some argue that mouthpieces are uncomfortable, being tubed will be much more uncomfortable. At this time the use of masks not only reduces the risk of infection, but has become an act of solidarity among people.
Specialists believe that the aggressive behaviour of some can be redirected with education to understand its importance in health matters, instead of considering it as an imposition. The pandemic is not over, we must not let down our guard. If we have already taken care of ourselves for so many months, why neglect ourselves now? Our life is the most valuable thing we have, along with our youth, the only thing we cannot get back.
Let's be aware of this, we are not immortal, the magic thought of "it won't happen to me" is a denial, there are no foundations to support it. The activation of scenarios to mobilize the economy has generated important outbreaks. Hence the need not to lower our guard. We need to take care of our lives and be in solidarity with our compatriots to stop the contagion.
Gloria Sánchez Aguilar has a degree in Psychology and works as a psychotherapist
The days should not be sad and boring because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Redwood City community knows that. That's why, in collaboration with the Veterans Memorial Senior Center in conjunction with entertainment company Travonde, the first "Zoom" Day will be held, with virtual activities for senior citizens.
From 9 a.m. this Wednesday, November 18, until 4:30 p.m., there will be free online activities for senior citizens. The topics are varied; from nutrition to mandolin concerts, and how to stay physically active during the quarantine.
This is the first in a series of virtual events that will be held monthly to provide new options for Redwood City seniors.
To enjoy these activities, you will only have to register by entering the following web page: travonde.com - There, you will find the various activities to be carried out, as well as their schedule and duration.
These activities are overseen by the City Council's Parks, Recreation and Community Services department, in an effort to create a greater bond for the valued community.
"These activities, focused on programs, activities and information, are dedicated and available to the growing multicultural population, their caregivers and families," notes the Zoom Day One welcome page.
After two months of collecting samples and showing results, pharmacist Pfizer increased the effectiveness of its vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 disease, from 90 percent to 95 percent. According to data from statistics recently collected by NBC, this has left more than 250 unfortunate deaths in the United States.
On Monday, Nov. 9, it was announced that Pfizer's vaccine, in conjunction with the German firm BioNTech, was only 90 percent effective; however, both companies warned that, once the required studies were completed, there was a high probability that its final efficacy would be different.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would give emergency approval for its use in the next few days; if so, it would be the first vaccine on the market to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Pfizer's vaccine is in phase 3 of its clinical trials.
To reach 95 percent effectiveness, more than 43,000 volunteers were required, the pharmacist conducted tests where the FDA imposed a limit of up to 170 COVID-19 infections; of these, 162 corresponded to a placebo dose and only in eight people was the vaccine not effective.
It should be noted that the vaccine is up to 94 percent effective in people over 65. Regarding the side effects of the vaccine, Pfizer says: "The data show that the vaccine was well tolerated (?) no serious safety problems were observed; the only adverse event of third degree, with a frequency higher than 2%, were cases of fatigue in 3.8% and headache in 2.0%".
In the statement explains that: "The primary efficacy analysis shows that BNT162b2 - the vaccine batch - has an efficacy of 95% against COVID-19 starting 28 days after the first dose; 170 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were evaluated, with 162 volunteers in the placebo group versus 8 in the vaccine group".
It should be noted that just this Monday, it was announced that the vaccine developed by Moderna reached an effectiveness of 94.5%; however, compared to the vaccine developed by Pfizer, it showed the same effectiveness in cases where patients had already been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
However, Moderna has to go through FDA approval after two months of successful testing for emergency introduction, a process that Pfizer has completed.
Finally, Pfizer expects its formula to be replicated internationally, stating that: "they expect to produce up to 50 million doses of vaccine globally by 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses by the end of 2021.
The current Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, has been re-elected to represent the Democrats in the 170th House of Representatives for a second term this Wednesday morning; however, Pelosi's renewal requires that the incoming Congress also take office in the first instance, which will occur a few days before President-elect Joe Biden also completes the transition of the U.S. presidency.
If so, Pelosi will be in charge of promoting the laws required by the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden as long as he remains in office, at least for two more years.
"Congratulations to @SpeakerPelosi, elected once again by House Democrats to be that brave leader and to be the candidate for Speaker of the House for the 117th Congress," tweeted the House Democratic representatives' tally along with the hashtags #DownWithNDP - we support Nancy D'Alessandro Pelosi - and #ForThePeople.
Congratulations to SpeakerPelosiThe President, once again elected by House Democrats to be our fearless leader and nominate for Speaker of the House for the 117th Congress! #DownWithNDP#ForThePeople
Pelosi took office on January 3, 2019, following the 2018 mid-term elections in which Democrats won a majority in the House.
On November 6, he appeared before the press to acknowledge very early on President-elect Joe Biden's victory. He said the Joe Biden and Kamala Harris formula "will bring people together, because all points of view are respected.
In addition to Pelosi, Steny Hoyer retains his position as the House Majority Leader elected in 2019, and has also represented Maryland's 5th Congressional District since January 5, 1981, along with James E. Clyburn, the third Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, and currently Chairman of the House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis.
This Tuesday, Trump, again on his Twitter account reported that "the statements made by Chris Krebs were inaccurate", such statements would have been the reason for his dismissal.
Until Tuesday, Christopher C. Krebs served as director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA). This agency was created by President Donald Trump in February 2018 and is based in Arlington, Virginia.
So far this public position remains vacant. Krebs regretted his termination of his duties via Twitter after Trump's announcement.
Honored to serve. We did it right. Defend Today, Secure Tomrorow. #Protect2020
And that is, according to the agency's newsletter by Krebs established on Thursday, November 12 that: "There is no evidence that any voting system has ever deleted or lost votes, changed votes or been compromised in any way..
It is understood that the statements made by Krebs about the election process were the reason why Trump fired the cyber security expert. Trump, for his part, continues to spread the fake speech that there was some kind of fraud in the last election where President-elect Joe Biden won.
Krebs, 44, is a former Microsoft company executive who has served as Director of Cybersecurity Policy and has advised the private sector and federal, state and local governments on cybersecurity and risk management issues.
However, Krebs, despite taking office as director of CISA in 2018, since March 2017, has been a senior advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Infrastructure Protection where he addressed issues of cybersecurity, critical infrastructure and national resilience, according to the U.S. government agency's website.
The cybersecurity expert holds a bachelor's degree in environmental science from the University of Virginia and a juris doctorate from the Antonin Scalia School of Law at George Mason University.
The California government announced Monday that Alameda, Napa, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma counties will return to a purple phase due to the increase in cases of COVID-19, which will mean massive closures of establishments and a possible curfew.
This was pointed out by the state governor, Gavin Newsom, in a virtual press conference, who said that these counties are part of the 41 in total that passed to this phase, representing 94 percent of the population.
He added that the counties of Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo are located in redThe opening of restaurants, gyms and cinemas, among others, was gradually being slowed down.
"We're sounding the alarm. California is experiencing the fastest increase in cases we have seen so far, even faster than at the beginning of the pandemic," he warned.
He also noted that, according to health officials, there is a fear thatThe number of COVID-19 cases is growing exponentially, the hospital system collapsesso we also a statewide curfew is planned.
This would mean a step back to March of this year, when the pandemic started, and a mass closure of establishmentsas well as a wide range of restrictions in various activities.
So far in California, an average of 164,345 COVID-19 tests are performed, revealing a 4.6 percent positive rate.
There is also a daily average of 8,198 cases, while in the last two weeks there has been a 48 percent increase in the number of hospitalizations, and a 39 percent increase in cases requiring intensive care.
That's why Newsom also reported changes in the case monitoring system, which will be changed from every 14 days to a daily basis, and will have the ability to roll back multiple phases immediately rather than gradually.
In that sense, the use of mouthpieces will be reinforced at the state level, which will mean their use at all times and without exceptions when out.
During the conference, California Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly called on those citizens from counties that are in purple or red phases to avoid meeting in enclosed spaces, especially with the upcoming winter season.
This, he said, coupled with the constant use of the mouthpiece, will protect the people around us, as well as health workers, who have been severely affected by the pandemic that is sweeping the country and the world.
What does the purple level imply?
Closing of interior spaces such as: gyms, restaurants, churches, cinemas, vineyards, bars, museums, zoos, aquariums, family entertainment centers such as video game rooms and mini-golf, among others, while the bars will be completely closed.
Limited indoor capacity such as: hairdressers, beauty salons and personal care services, which will remain open.
Whereas retail stores will have a 25 percent capacity limitas well as shopping malls and common areas.
What does the red level imply?
Closing of interior spaces like vineyards, video game rooms and miniature golf, among others. The bars will be completely closed.
Limited indoor capacityThe new system will be based on the principle that hairdressers, beauty salons and personal care services will remain open, while churches, restaurants and cinemas will operate at a maximum capacity of 25 percent or up to 100 people, whichever comes first.
With the above, the entrepreneurs will have to adapt their establishments again so that they can continue to operate, and thus generate profits where possible.
The U.S. President-Elect Joe BidenHe said that if the current government does not coordinate with the one that is about to enter on January 20, which he heads, "more people may die" due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a situation that can wait until January 20, when the administration transition takes place.
At a press conference, the Democrat, to win the election on January 7He noted that, while the vaccine is important, "it's not much good if you don't vaccinate people.
"How can 300 million Americans be vaccinated? What's the plan? It is a daunting task to do this, and to give double priority to those who need it most, working with WHO - the World Health Organization - and the rest of the world in this process," he said.
Biden also stressed that it is not just a matter of having the vaccine, but of having a plan to distribute it.
"If we fear that waiting until January 20 to put it into action would put us almost a month and a half into the saga, so it is important that this is done in a coordinated manner from now on," he said.
In that regard, the president-elect tweeted in the afternoon and said that "at this time, Congress should come together and pass a COVID-19 aid package, like the HEROES Act, which the House passed six months ago.
Right now, Congress should come together and pass a COVID relief package like the HEROES Act that the House passed six months ago. Once we shut down the virus and deliver economic relief to workers and businesses, then we can build back better than ever before.
He added that "once we turn off the virus and provide economic relief to workers and businesses, we can rebuild better than ever.
Importantly, in the morning, Biden reminded via Twitter that while it's great news that a second vaccine is on the way, we're still months away from it.
Once again, I congratulate the brilliant women and men who produced this breakthrough and have brought us one step closer to beating this virus. I am also thankful for the frontline workers who are still confronting the virus around the clock.
Social distancing and the use of mouthpieces to control the virus must still be exercised.
However, the still president, Donald Trump, continues not to admit his defeat, a situation that does not allow him to establish a dialogue with the transition team of the president-elect, Joe Biden, and with it, not have forceful actions to stop the pandemic that so far has left more than 11.2 million people infected and more than 246 thousand deaths.
The U.S. biotechnology company Moderna announced Monday that its candidate vaccine against COVID-19 has met the statistical criteria pre-specified in the study protocol for efficacy, which showed 94.5 percent effectiveness, including in people infected with the SARS-CoV 2 virus, which causes the disease.
"This is a crucial time in the development of our COVID-19 candidate vaccine. Since early January, we have been pursuing this virus with the intention of protecting as many people as possible around the world," said Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna.
The executive said: "We have known all along that every day is important. This positive interim analysis of our Phase 3 study has given us the first clinical validation that our vaccine can prevent COVID-19 disease, including severe cases.
In a statement, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company said the study, conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), enrolled more than 30,000 participants of different ages and ethnicities.
The primary endpoint of the Phase 3 COVE study, he said, was based on analysis of confirmed and adjudicated COVID-19 cases starting two weeks after the second dose of vaccine.
Thus, the first interim analysis was based on 95 cases, of which 90 were observed with COVID-19 in the placebo group, versus five cases in the possible "mRNA-1273" vaccine group, resulting in a point estimate of the vaccine's efficacy of 94.5 percent, they said.
In turn, a secondary endpoint analyzed severe cases of VOC-19 and included 11 with these characteristics.
The 95 cases of COVID-19 included 15 older adults-over 65 years of age-and 20 participants who identified themselves as belonging to diverse communities (including 12 Hispanic or Latino, four African Americans, three Asian Americans, and one multiracial).
The interim analysis included a simultaneous review of available safety data from the Phase 3 VOCA study by the Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB), which reported no significant safety issues.
A review of the adverse events requested indicated that, overall, the vaccine was well tolerated, while most adverse events were of mild or moderate severity.
They noted that grade 3 (severe) events with a frequency greater than or equal to 2.0 percent after the first dose included pain at the injection site (2.7%), and after the second dose included fatigue (9.7%), myalgia (8.9%), arthralgia (5.2%), headache (4.5%), pain (4.1%) and erythema/rediness at the injection site (2.0%).
Such adverse events, the company said, were generally of short duration, and are subject to change based on ongoing analysis of data from the additional Phase 3 VOCA study and final analysis.
Therefore, they noted that the preliminary analysis suggests a broadly consistent safety and efficacy profile in all subgroups evaluated.
Based on these interim safety and efficacy data, Moderna intends to apply for emergency use authorization with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the coming weeks.
Similarly, it envisages that emergency authorisation will be informed by final safety and efficacy data (with an average duration of at least two months), and plans to send authorisation requests to global regulatory agencies.
By the end of 2020, the company expects to have approximately 20 million doses of "mRNA-1273" ready for shipment, "with the company still on track to manufacture 500 million to 1 billion doses globally by 2021," he added.
Finally, Moderna recently announced further progress to ensure that vaccine distribution, storage and handling can be done using existing infrastructure.
So far in the U.S. there are 10.5 million cumulative cases and 250,000 regrettable deaths from COVID-19 due to lack of monitoring of health measures to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, so specialists predict that a third wave of the virus will leave, by mid-December, 2,000 dead per day.
According to Tung Nguyen, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), between 120,000 and 150,000 people are infected daily and about 1,000 die, so when a third outbreak occurs, the numbers will be much higher than the first two.
"This is happening at a very difficult time, the flu season has not even started and we are already receiving reports that hospitals are receiving a significant number of patients. In addition, health workers are also dying and we have reached the point where there are no longer enough staff to care for the increasing number of patients," Nguyen said.
In that sense, he explained that anyone with a medical condition that needs hospitalization during the following months will be impacted by the current escalation of cases in the country.
For his part, Dr. Nirav R. Shah, a senior researcher at Stanford University's Center for Research in Clinical Excellence, said the current figures should not come as a surprise, and we should not wait until the new incoming federal administration, led by President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, begins to make changes to see positive results.
"The lack of leadership on many levels has brought us to this point and what we need is a strong, unified voice that we can all agree on and that will take us back to control, as other countries have done," Nirav R. Shah said during the virtual session "COVID-19 Infections Increase as U.S. Faces Third Wave of Pandemic," conducted by Ethnic Media Services.
Shah added that there is a lack of confidence in science and solutions to the pandemic will only be successful if people trust it, the vaccine and its two necessary doses - when they are available.
"When we talk about mouthpieces, it's not a political issue, it's a science issue," said one internist, who added that, based on what is known so far, they should continue to avoid large gatherings, pay attention to social distancing, use mouthpieces, stay home when sick and undergo a voluntary quarantine period after exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19.
In this regard, he noted that the medical corps, the media, social and political leaders must also work together to repeat the message of protection measures against COVID-19 whenever there is an opportunity to do so.
Dr. Ashish K. Jha, a health policy researcher and third dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, explained that the United States is experiencing record levels of infection on any given day since COVID-19 became a public health problem.
"We have 100,000 to 250,000 cases every day, but the actual figures for coronavirus in the United States show that there are 3,000 to 5,000 extra cases a day, but they are not identified because of inadequate testing," he said.
In response, he said: "From the thousand deaths we have every day, we will be up to two thousand a day by mid-December. And my estimate is that we're going to have about 100,000 more American deaths between now and the day that Joe Biden becomes president.
In that regard, he noted that, in the previous nine months of the pandemic, there has not been a moment where there has been more disconnection between how bad things are now and the little attention the nation is paying to it.
"We are so close to reaching a point where the pandemic begins to be controlled and, for me, it is particularly incomprehensible to lose another 100,000 Americans in the next two months when we know that we are close to possible and very effective vaccines, which will make a big difference. I think we're giving up right at the last moment, when many are suffering on the line and that's preventable," he said.
The also former director of the Harvard Institute for Global Health said the country is going through this time for three reasons: first, you have a federal government that did not take the pandemic seriously and did not take the necessary science-based action to stop the spread of the disease.
"New York public schools are closed but restaurants are still open. In Boston, the public schools are closed but the casinos are open. That's wrong, but looking at it from the financial side of the state, casinos generate income that schools don't," he said.
On the other hand, he said, there is no congressional support for states in which there is a bad financial situation, as well as for their citizens.
Thirdly, people are tired of the situation "and this is going to continue for a long time, they have not seen actions by the political leaders and that has made them lower their guard. That's why we are where we are now.
In this regard, Jha noted that while Joe Biden has limited power at the moment, he has always been very active and committed to the use of the mouthpiece and has recommended it, especially in states with a Republican majority, where there is a lot of skepticism about the health care measure.
He said there is inadequate sampling of people with VOC-19 because many test providers in the country have indicated that they cannot afford to make investments to create more tests, as they do not know if the government will buy them.
"Biden's team can start telling vendors they'll be in charge in two months and that they promise to acquire the evidence. That's a credibility that will have a great market signal for these companies," he said.
Both experts agreed that the latest data on the vaccine being prepared by Pfizer is encouraging; however, there will only be 10 to 20 million doses maximum by the end of the year, but it will be some time before there is widespread availability, as well as a secure supply chain that gets the two doses to everyone.
"They need to start achieving partial herd immunity, forget about full immunity, so if you're thinking about when life will return to normal, it will require multiple strategies in the short term, which means that in the next six months or a year, we can't just think about vaccines, but all the others - health measures," said Dr Nirav Shah.
He said the first people to receive vaccine doses will be those on the front lines, such as health workers and essential workers, and then move on to vulnerable groups and finally the rest of the population, so it's possible that the vaccine will actually reach everyone by 2022.
The challenges are enormous in terms of logistics for Pfizer's vaccine, which is 90 percent effective so far, because it must be kept refrigerated at -80 degrees Celsius, making it difficult to distribute in many places, not only in the country, but around the world.
Vaccines alone do not save lives, but vaccination does," added Dr. Ashish Jha, who pointed out that efforts must be made to ensure that everyone, but especially communities of African descent, understand the importance of being vaccinated, since this measure will not be mandatory.
"We're going to have to really engage with people, understand where their distrust comes from. Help with that, and involve community, civic and religious leaders. This is going to be everyone's job. If we don't do that hard work, only 30 or 40 percent of Americans will get vaccinated, but that won't be enough to control the pandemic," he estimated.
"There is a lot of work ahead for Biden's team, for the states, for public health leaders, for all of us, for journalists to clearly communicate to the American people what the benefits and challenges of the vaccine are," he added.
However, in addition to testing, vaccinations and health measures, tracking of COVID-19 cases is needed so that progress can be made in controlling the pandemic, they said.
"The tests alone will not work. Tracking alone won't work. Wearing a mask alone won't work. But all of it, taken together, will get us collectively to where we need to be.
They also noted that the use of the mouthpiece has become politicized, but science has proven effective in preventing the spread of the virus, so people need to understand what they are doing with their individual behavior and how it is affecting others.
William Shaffner, a professor of preventive medicine in the Department of Health Policy and a professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tenn.
So, he added, they will generate pain for several days at the site where they are applied, and they can cause fever and headache, which means the immune system is working with the vaccine to develop your protection. "It's not going to give you COVID-19. COVID-19 is not given in the vaccine. Please don't think that."
This, he said, will mean that, in a given location, the vaccines cannot be given on a single day, as many workers will not be able to go to work the next day. "So we're going to have to do this in phases, which will make all the logistics even more complicated.
He added that very few vaccines are 100 percent effective; however, 90 percent effectiveness is very good, although it's important to know that, for every 10 people vaccinated, one will be unprotected or only partially protected; however, you won't know who that might be.
"That's one of the many reasons why even people who are vaccinated can't throw away their masks. We're going to have to use the masks, maintain social distancing, and avoid large groups for a long period of time," she said.
Drs. Tung Nguyen and William Shaffer agreed that California has done an excellent job in managing the pandemic, especially in the northern part of the state, where cities like San Francisco have done an excellent job despite the fact that cases are on the rise.
As for the schools, they said, they represent a real problem because they have different policies on the control of the spread of the virus, and that is that those with more resources have more facilities to implement a variety of containment measures, unlike the others.
Although children have contracted COVID-19 the least, they are not immune, so in the face of any outbreak and based on data, schools have decided to close and thus avoid further spread.
A tough Friday the 13th for current U.S. President Donald Trump, who held an eventful press conference to preview his administration's approach to the HIV/AIDS-19 pandemic.
At the moment, The New York Times reports an unfortunate record of 162,402 new cases today alone; in the national territory, SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19, has claimed the lives of 243,376 people.
With a whiter shade of hair than usual, the current U.S. president came out in front of the cameras after the result whose trends favored the now president-elect Joe Bidenwho was a Democratic challenger.
In his speech, he reiterated, as on previous occasions, that confinement is not an option contemplated in his own administration, nor are they contemplating shutting down the economy because of the crisis being generated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
His mid-term statement caused a stir when he said that "who knows what administration it will be," not knowing, first of all, the incoming administration, but implying that it will be a different one, and that the omission of confinement and the closure of commercial activities will be limited as long as Trump is in charge. "Only time will tell," he said.
Para intentar salvar su discurso, Trump hizo referencia a los resultados que ha obtenido la farmacéutica Pfizer, quien anunciara a principios de semana, que su vacuna contra el nuevo coronavirus tendría hasta un 90 por ciento de efectividad. Nuevamente, en un tono racista, se refirió a la cepa del nuevo coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 como «el virus chino».
Still, he promised that the vaccine would arrive in the coming weeks to serve health care workers in direct contact with COVID-19 patients, with the exception of New York State, where he singled out New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo "for not trusting the source of the vaccine."
Trump made no mention of the outcome of the Nov. 3 general election, in where Joe Biden would win as president-elect. for the next administration. At the end of his speech, Trump turned his back to the media, who tried to ask him questions about his position on the results of the presidential election.
Among the reporters, the voice of Brian J. Karem stood out, who addressed the current president: "You lost the election. When will you admit you lost the election?". Karem ran out of Trump's response.
