Mike Pence Falsely Takes Credit for Pfizer Vaccine

 https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/11/mike-pence-pfizer-vaccine

 As you’ve probably heard by now, over the weekend Donald Trump was projected as having lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, in part due to his disgraceful response to the COVID-19 pandemic, wherein he effectively just let the virus spiral out of control, leading to the deaths of nearly 238,000 in the U.S. Because he’s mortifyingly delusional, though, he believes that (1) he still has a chance at being reelected, hence the refusal to concede, and (2) the news that Pfizer’s vaccine is more than 90% effective in early trials and may be available by the end of the year is somehow a credit to him.

 And because virtually everything out of this administration’s collective mouth is a lie, and an entire cottage industry of fact-checking has necessarily cropped up around it, Pence’s statement was immediately debunked—by Pfizer itself. Speaking to the New York Times, Dr. Kathrin Jansen, a senior vice president and the head of vaccine research and development at the company, said, “We were never part of the Warp Speed,” referring to the government’s effort to rapidly develop a vaccine. “We have never taken any money from the U.S. government, or from anyone.” As the Washington Post notes, back in July, the drugmaker agreed to partner with the government to distribute a vaccine, “leveraging what will be a massive, complicated effort run by the federal government to ensure that as many people as possible can be immunized.” But the actual developmental efforts had nothing to do with the Trump administration.