As the first people in the United States begin to receive a long-awaited coronavirus vaccine well before the end of 2020, a few Twitter users with long memories were quick to dig up and repost tweets and statements from Operation Warp Speed doubters that did not age well.
Operation Warp Speed, a blending of the public and private sectors with the express goal of drastically shortening the time it takes to research, test, approve and distribute a vaccine, was announced in April, only a month into the pandemic.
With Pfizer’s vaccine already approved for emergency use, Moderna’s on the way and several more to follow, experts now say that anyone who wants to be vaccinated should be able to do so by the end of May, with several million doses available to first responders and the most vulnerable by the end of the year.
When President Donald Trump claimed in May that a vaccine would be available by the end of the year, MSNBC analyst Dr. Irwin Redlener went on air to call the claim “preposterous.”
.@IrwinRedlenerMD says Trump’s claim there will be a #coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year is “preposterous.”
Learn more: https://t.co/mOb9hhEyvr#11thHour pic.twitter.com/c2q66cNfuI
— 11th Hour (@11thHour) May 16, 2020
MSNBC producer Kyle Griffin posted an NBC “fact check” citing experts who claimed it would take a “miracle” to get the vaccine rolling by year’s end.
NBC Fact check: Coronavirus vaccine could come this year, Trump says. Experts say he needs a ‘miracle’ to be right.https://t.co/Pu6hDrWGgP
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 15, 2020
PBS White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor also went on record to quote the “experts.”
President Trump just now at the WH on a coronavirus vaccine: “We’re looking to get it by the end of the year if we can….Moving on at record, record, record.”
Note: Experts and officials say that is likely faster than what is possible.
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) May 15, 2020
As did CBS anchor Norah O’Donnell.
The president said today he that he wants the nation to return to normal, with or without a vaccine. Still, he says a vaccine will be ready by the end of the year – a timeline experts say is unlikely. @PaulaReidCBS reports pic.twitter.com/EsClFtt8NC
— Norah O’Donnell ???????? (@NorahODonnell) May 15, 2020
Quoting an ABC fact check, Democratic strategist Ameshia Cross claimed the Trump administration was “lying” to Americans.
The Trump Administration has been lying to you all…there will be no #covid19 vaccine by the end of the year. And a rush to create one so fast would greatly hamper its effectiveness anyway, vaccine protocols are in place for a reason and tests have to be undergone to study https://t.co/IZ0z2BxXXB
— Ameshia Cross (@AmeshiaCross) May 22, 2020
Former New York Times labor reporter Steve Greenhouse and Bloomberg opinion columnist Tim O’Brien had their doubts in August.
WHAT???
Trump boasts inanely, “We will produce a vaccine by the end of the year — and maybe even sooner”
Is Trump suggesting he’ll pressure the FDA into approving a Covid vaccine in 2019?
— Steven Greenhouse (@greenhousenyt) August 28, 2020
No one in Trump‘a own government — at least those leading Operation Warp Speed, whom I interviewed — believes that a safe, properly tested coronavirus vaccine will be ready by the end of the year. Amazingly irresponsible for Trump to be touting this in the midst of this crisis.
— Tim O’Brien (@TimOBrien) August 28, 2020
Responding to a Trump speech, Vox’s Aaron Rupar wrote we were “not close” in November.
Trump is now promising that the coronavirus vaccine will be available in “a couple of weeks,” which is the surest indication yet that we’re not close pic.twitter.com/mGftl9bddx
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 2, 2020
NBC News analyst Howard Fineman had his doubts.
Just review this when you hear #Trump promise that there will be tens of millions of vaccine doses available by the end of the year. https://t.co/anKsyE2Sib
— howardfineman (@howardfineman) October 8, 2020
As did Charlotte Clymer.
Trump: We’ll have a vaccine by the end of the year.
New Year’s Eve: pic.twitter.com/HyutrEdAJV
— Charlotte Clymer ????️???? (@cmclymer) October 23, 2020
The Daily Kos insisted that Trump’s claim about quick distribution had been “roundly debunked” in October.
Trump insists there will be a vaccine coming in a “couple of weeks,” then backs off to say “end of the year.” Then Trump insists that “we have our generals lined up” and that will make it faster — a story that’s been roundly debunked. #Debates2020
— Daily Kos (@dailykos) October 23, 2020
Newshour’s Meredith Lee and Politico’s Alice Ollstein reported in September and October that Trump had even disagreed with heads of the National Institute of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, insisting the vaccine would be available by years end.
.@realDonaldTrump was right.
As of today, coronavirus vaccines are being delivered and shots are being administered to the American people. https://t.co/2wEBHyBjuN
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) December 14, 2020
Pressed on vaccine timeline, Trump says: “No, it’s not a guarantee.” But then pledges avail by end of the year. His own top health officials say it will likely be well into 2021. Trump insists he knows better than his health officials, cites the military’s role in distribution.
— Alice Miranda Ollstein (@AliceOllstein) October 23, 2020
Here are several more:
Go ahead and flag this tweet for when we do not have that vaccine by the end of the year https://t.co/DX1bMrHMKF
— Jessica Huseman (@JessicaHuseman) May 14, 2020
Trump is now saying — with no evidence — there will be a vaccine “by the end of the year” — “maybe even sooner than that.”
“The vaccine is easy.”
— Sarah Ferris (@sarahnferris) June 5, 2020
Trump commits to having a vaccine by the end of the year and adds “maybe long before the end of the year.”
This is not reality.
— Max Steele (@maxasteele) August 5, 2020
Trump says his administration “will produce a vaccine by the end of the year — or maybe even sooner.”
We’ll very likely only find out the truth after the election.
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) August 28, 2020
No one in Trump‘a own government — at least those leading Operation Warp Speed, whom I interviewed — believes that a safe, properly tested coronavirus vaccine will be ready by the end of the year. Amazingly irresponsible for Trump to be touting this in the midst of this crisis.
— Tim O’Brien (@TimOBrien) August 28, 2020
Finally, Politifact “fact-checked” Trump in April, claiming the vaccine would take at least a “year and a half to roll out.” (RELATED: Dr. Anthony Fauci Predicts When The Face Masks Might Come Off)
Is the U.S. “very close to a vaccine” for the coronavirus, as President Trump said during tonight’s coronavirus briefing?
Public health experts say it could take a year and a half to roll out. https://t.co/ROwjFqp8zB pic.twitter.com/zer1XdVSOQ
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) April 23, 2020