Former U.S. President Trump continues to be a watchdog and thorn in the side of President Joe Biden. Today, after choosing to halt Johnson and Johnson vaccinations, the former president slammed Biden.
“The Biden Administration did a terrible disservice to people throughout the world by allowing the FDA and CDC to call a “pause” in the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine,” Trump said. “The results of this vaccine have been extraordinary but now it’s reputation will be permanently challenged. The people who have already taken the vaccine will be up in arms, and perhaps all of this was done for politics or perhaps it’s the FDA’s love for Pfizer.”
There have been some cases of J&J vaccines leading to blood clots in a small number of patients, leading to the Biden administration’s decision.
Related: CDC, FDA Want to Halt J&J Vaccine after blood clot issues arise in patients
Trump said the FDA acted in a political manner against Johnson and Johnson by withholding the J&J approval until after the election.
“The FDA, especially with long-time bureaucrats within, has to be controlled,” Trump said. “They should not be able to do such damage for possibly political reasons, or maybe because their friends at Pfizer have suggested it. They’ll do things like this to make themselves look important. Remember, it was the FDA working with Pfizer, who announced the vaccine approval two days after the 2020 Presidential Election.”
Johnson and Johnson acknowledged the problem with their vaccines.
“The safety and well-being of the people who use our products is our number one priority. We are aware of an extremely rare disorder involving people with blood clots in combination with low platelets in a small number of individuals who have received our COVID-19 vaccine,” the company said. “In addition, we have been reviewing these cases with European health authorities. We have made the decision to proactively delay the rollout of our vaccine in Europe. We have been working closely with medical experts and health authorities, and we strongly support the open communication of this information to healthcare professionals and the public.”