American public 'should be' skeptical of FDA's vaccine process, Cuomo says on 'GMA'

ByEyewitness News WABC logo

Monday, October 19, 2020

Governor Cuomo talks about COVID strategy in New York state

"GMA's" George Stephanopolous interviews Governor Andrew Cuomo about the latest on the COVID-19 crisis in New York.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Governor Andrew Cuomo appeared on "Good Morning America" to talk about his strategy battling the coronavirus in New York state.

The governor spoke with George Stephanopolous saying that the state's current infection rate is at about 1%, which is good compared to where New York was when the pandemic started in March. However, he does expect to see an increase in the fall and winter months.

"You put the viral increase of the fall together with this quote-un-quote COVID fatigue and that's a bad combination," Cuomo said. "The fatigue I think is due in part, yes we've been doing this a long time, but people don't know who to believe, George, and what to believe, and I think that's a major problem."

Dr. Anthony Fauci said that he trusts the experts at the FDA when it comes to the eventual release of a coronavirus vaccine. Governor Cuomo said that he's not "that confident" in the approval process.

"My opinion doesn't matter, but I don't believe the American people are that confident. You are going to say to the American people now, 'Here's a vaccine, it was new, it was done quickly, but trust this federal administration, their health administration that it's safe, and we're not 100% sure of the consequences,' I think it's going to be a very skeptical American public about taking the vaccine, and they should be," Cuomo said.

Stephanopolous asked Governor Cuomo what it would take for him to be convinced that it's safe, effective and should be distributed.

"What I said I'm going to do in New York is we're going to put together our own group of doctors and medical experts to review the vaccine and the efficacy and the protocol, and if they say it's safe, I'll go to the people of New York and I will say it's safe with that credibility," he said. "But I believe, all across the country, you are going to need someone other than this FDA and this CDC saying it's safe."

Amid continuing COVID crackdowns, Gov. Cuomo details a vaccination plan for the state.

He was then asked if that meant there needed to be a change in the White House with the election for that to happen and Governor Cuomo said that while he personally hopes for a change, he thinks that the FDA and CDC have lost their credibility.

"You have Dr. Fauci saying that they tried to muzzle him, and he has the highest credibility in the nation on this," he said.

"They are saying the day we get the vaccine that's when this ends," Cuomo said. "That's not true. The day we get the vaccine, we then have to prove to the American people that it's safe, we then have to administer millions of doses and that is a massive undertaking that this administration hasn't even talked about and is going to take months."

The governor added that he also didn't have confidence that the presidential election would go smoothly.

WATCH: Eyewitness to a Pandemic

It overwhelmed the health care industry, it put millions out of work, it drowned social services in an ocean of need and threatened the food supply Americans had long since taken for granted. At the apex of the crisis and for the weeks that followed, no part of life, or even what followed life, was spared.