Coronavirus News: Trump says COVID vaccine will be available except in New York; Cuomo dismisses comments
Coronavirus Update for New York
NEW YORK (WABC) -- President Donald Trump said Friday that a COVID-19 vaccine will be widely available for all Americans by April, except for New York, where he said it will not be delivered.
Governor Andrew Cuomo immediately responded saying, "There will be no delay."
Trump held a press conference in the Rose Garden to tout the progress with the vaccine, and take aim at New York.
The president suggested there would be enough supply to vaccinate 20 million Americans in December, and 25-30 million per month after that. It just wouldn't include New York.
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"Governor Cuomo will let us know when he is ready for it," Trump said. "Otherwise, we can't be delivering to a state that won't be giving it to its people immediately."
The president said he knows the people of New York very well and that they want the vaccine.
"He doesn't trust where the vaccine is coming from," he said. "It's coming from the greatest companies in the history of the world, greatest labs in the world. But he doesn't trust that it's the White House, this administration."
Cuomo spoke on MSNBC shortly after.
"None of what he said is true, there will be no delay," he said. "A number of states, New York included, put together their own scientific review panel, who will review the FDA process. It'll be concurrent. It's a way to build confidence with people. There are seven states doing this,"
Attorney General Letita James said her office is ready to sue the Trump Administration if New York is not given a vaccine with the rest of the United States.
"This is nothing more than vindictive behavior by a lame-duck president trying to extract vengeance on those who oppose his politics," she said. "Once there is a fully-developed COVID-19 vaccine, we are confident that a Biden-Harris Administration will provide New York with the proper number of doses so that our state's residents can achieve immunity. If dissemination of the vaccine takes place in the twilight of a Trump Administration and the president wants to play games with people's lives, we will sue and we will win."
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Cuomo appeared on "Good Morning America" earlier in the week to talk about advances with the coronavirus vaccine efforts.
The governor was critical of the Trump administration's handling of the coronavirus pandemic as a whole and also of their plan on how to administer the vaccine to the American public.
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"The good news is the Pfizer tests look good and we'll have a vaccine shortly, the bad news is it's about two months before Joe Biden takes over and that means this administration will be implementing a vaccine plan," Cuomo said.
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