Donald Trump has reappeared: he did not discuss his loss to Joe Biden, but sought to capitalize on the progress of a coronavirus vaccine

The outgoing President of the United States, Donald Trump, sought Friday to capitalize on the progress of a vaccine developed in his country against the coronavirus, without mentioning his defeat in the November 3 elections against Joe Biden. These were his first public statements in eight days.

The Republican president spoke to the press from the garden of the White House, shortly after the mainstream media released their projections of the final presidential election results, which gave Biden a total of 306 Electoral College votes. . against Trump’s 232. In the United States, under the indirect election system, it takes 270 delegates to become president.

Without making a single mention of the election or its result, the president pointed out that over the past nine months his administration “began the largest mobilization in U.S. history in development and manufacturing. of therapies and vaccines in record time “.

In this sense, he stressed that the operation launched by his government for the manufacture and distribution of vaccines and treatments against covid-19, the so-called “Operation Speed ​​of Light”, is “unmatched in the world. world”.

“In a few weeks, much sooner than expected, we will be able to start administering the vaccine health workers and people at high risk, ”he said.

The president highlighted the announcement made on Monday by the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer, that its vaccine is 90% effective according to the latest tests.

“It far exceeds our expectations. We came to an agreement and invested $ 1.5 billion in the development of the Pfizer vaccine,” he said.

“Our government is already working on coordinating the distribution,” Trump said.

At the same time, as coronavirus cases skyrocket in the United States and several states impose new restrictions to control infections, the president has pledged that “there will be no total containment” in the country.

“This government will not stop,” he noted.

The magnate has thus taken up one of the central issues of his pre-election agenda, to which he made no allusion. Trump has yet to admit defeat and claims there was fraud, without providing any evidence.

Biden, who garnered nearly 78 million votes nationwide, over 5 million more than Trump, He was declared the winner in Georgia on Friday, according to media projections. This solidified his triumph, after remaining with Arizona on Thursday, in Republicans’ hands since 1996.

However, the result is not yet official, as Georgia, where Democrats had not won since 1992 under Bill Clinton, began a manual recount that could last until next Wednesday.

During Trump’s White House presentation, experts in his government also spoke, but only about covid-19, and reporters’ questions were not accepted.

Source: AFP and EFE