Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has rejected President Donald Trump’s charge that he is spreading fear about the safety of a potential coronavirus vaccine, urging Trump to defer to scientists and not rush its rollout.

• Joe
  Biden said President Donald Trump is rushing any possible coronavirus vaccine
  to score points ahead of the 3 November elections.
• Speaking
  from his home base of Wilmington, Delaware, Biden argued that a vaccine should
  only be approved by adhering to rigorous safety standards.
• Trump
  contradicted one of his top health officials, Robert Redfield, who said a
  vaccine would not be widely available to the public until the middle of next
  year.

WILMINGTON
– Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Wednesday rejected President
Donald Trump’s charge that he is spreading fear about the safety of a potential
coronavirus vaccine, urging Trump to defer to scientists and not rush its
rollout.
Biden said: 
Let me be clear: I trust vaccines, I trust scientists, but I don’t trust Donald Trump. At this moment, the American people can’t either.
Biden warned against trying to
rush out an unfinished vaccine ahead of the 3 November election.
Trump, who has accused Biden and
his campaign of stoking doubt among Americans about the efficacy of a vaccine,
told reporters at the White House later that Biden should stop promoting
“anti-vaccine theories”.
“They’re recklessly
endangering lives. You can’t do that,” said Trump, who predicted at least
100 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine could be distributed by the end of
2020.
The novel coronavirus has caused
about 195 000 US deaths, the most of any country, and millions of job losses,
becoming a central issue in the presidential campaign. Trump has repeatedly
downplayed Covid-19’s risks, particularly early in the crisis and has also
drawn criticism for ignoring or disputing warnings from scientists and public
health officials.
Speaking from his home base of
Wilmington, Delaware, on Wednesday, Biden argued that such a vaccine should
only be approved by adhering to rigorous safety standards.
‘I believe he was confused’
“Scientific breakthroughs
don’t care about calendars any more than the virus does. They certainly don’t
adhere to election cycles. And their timing, their approval and distribution,
should never, ever be distorted by political considerations,” he said.
Earlier, Republican US
Representative Brad Wenstrup, a physician and Trump supporter, dismissed those
concerns in a call with reporters, saying the US Food and Drug Administration
would ensure any new vaccine was safe.
“We believe the FDA is not
going to approve something that isn’t safe and effective,” Wenstrup said.
At the White House, Trump
contradicted one of his own top health officials, Robert Redfield, director of
the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Redfield told a congressional
panel on Wednesday that even if a Covid-19 vaccine was approved in the coming
weeks, it likely would not be widely available to the public until the middle
of next year.
Trump said: 
No, I think he made a mistake when he said that. That’s incorrect information. I believe he was confused. I think he just misunderstood the question, probably.
Biden spoke after being briefed
on the virus by several public health experts, including Vivek Murthy, the
former US surgeon general. His speech was part of a delicate balancing act the
former vice president has struck in recent weeks, as Trump has suggested a
vaccine could be approved ahead of the election.
‘Trust the scientist’
Biden,
who leads the president in national opinion polls, has questioned whether Trump
is pressuring agencies like the FDA to sign off on a vaccine to boost his
re-election prospects. At the same time, Biden has been careful to say he wants
to see a safe vaccine as soon as possible.
Biden said: 
There has to be total transparency, so scientists outside the government know what is being approved. I’m saying, trust the scientist.
Health experts have expressed
concern that not enough Americans will volunteer to take an approved
coronavirus vaccine, in part because of the speed with which it is being
created. Most vaccines are developed over a decade or more.
In a July Reuters/Ipsos poll,
just over 60% of Americans said they were interested in taking a vaccine,
around the threshold that experts say is likely to be necessary to halt the
pandemic’s spread.
Trump’s penchant for spreading
misinformation about the coronavirus may hurt his ability to assure Americans of
the vaccine’s safety, the poll suggested. Only 15% of respondents said they
would be more willing if Trump said the vaccine was safe. More than twice as
many said a presidential endorsement would actually make them less interested
in taking the vaccine.
Biden has sought for months to
portray Trump’s response to the outbreak as a failure that has caused tens of
thousands of unnecessary deaths. His argument was bolstered last week by the
release of recorded interviews between Trump and journalist Bob Woodward, in
which the president acknowledged deliberately downplaying the deadliness of the
virus.
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