COVID-19: Trump disagrees with CDC chief over readiness of virus vaccine

The President of the United States of America, Donald Trump has contradicted Robert Redfield, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) over the timing of any Covid-19 vaccine.

While Redfield told a US Senate committee a vaccine was unlikely to be ready until mid to late 2021, Trump said it would be much sooner and accused the CDC chief of making a “mistake” and being “confused”.

He told the news conference a vaccine could be announced as soon as October.

According to reports, Trump has been pushing for a vaccine ahead of the November election, raising concerns about safety. Vaccine development usually takes years, and there is no guarantee of success.

READ ALSO: Lebanese Foreign Minister contracts Covid-19

Meanwhile, AstraZeneca, one of the most advanced vaccines in development has resumed British clinical trials of its COVID-19 drug.

This came after getting the green light from concerned safety watchdogs, the company said.

In a related development, the UN is warning coronavirus could be more widespread in Syria than official data suggests with nearly 90 percent of cases unable to be traced to a known source.

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