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Trump says 'we essentially have vaccine' and compares effort to defeating Isis

 (Independent)
(Independent)

Donald Trump said the US “essentially” has the coronavirus vaccine and would soon announce distribution plans for 100 million doses by end of the year.

Speaking at a White House press conference on Friday, the president compared the rapid development and deployment of the vaccine to the defeat of Isis in the Middle East and said enough doses would be ready for all Americans to be vaccinated by April 2021.

“We essentially have it, announcing very soon,” Mr Trump said.

“In a short time we’ll have a safe and effective vaccine and we will defeat the virus. Interestingly, as I was saying, it will go very well just like what we did with our military, with respect to Isis, did very well. Long ahead of schedule.”

Mr Trump said the vaccine candidates are currently going through the “gold-standard” of clinical trials and, once ready, the military is ready to begin distribution within 24-hours of approval.

While the vaccines would be ready for high-risk and first responders by the end of the year, hundreds of millions more would be ready by the end of the first quarter.