Pelosi Statement on Pfizer, BioNTech Vaccine Announcement

Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement on the announcement by Pfizer and BioNTech that their vaccine candidate is showing 90 percent effectiveness at preventing COVID-19:

"Today the world welcomes good news about a vaccine that could be a giant leap forward in our fight against the coronavirus. We are all praying that this early evidence of extraordinary efficacy and safety holds true so that the vaccine can be approved and distributed soon -- but not one day sooner or one day later than it is ready.

"The arrival of this vaccine is a tribute to the tireless work of scientists and the immense value of international collaboration. This vaccine is needed not only for America, but for the whole world. None of us is safe until all of us are safe from this terrible virus.

"We must ensure that the vaccine will be free and available to as many Americans as possible as soon as possible. To that end, we must accelerate the manufacture of the vaccine, including by invoking the Defense Production Act if necessary. Until an approved vaccine is widely available, however, we must still work to crush the virus with the testing, tracing, treatment, mask wearing and social distancing that are essential to preventing tens of thousands of needless deaths in the coming months."

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