Top Republican Senator Criticizes Harris/Biden’s Comments About Upcoming CCP Virus Vaccine

Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) speaks to the media following their weekly policy luncheon in Washington, on April 30, 2019. (Pete Marovich/Getty Images)

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said Sen. Kamala Harris’s (D-Calif.) recent comments about the Operation Warp Speed vaccine are “irresponsible.”

The Republican made the comment on Fox News when asked why Harris might have said she would not trust the fast-track vaccine despite the administration going through all the correct scientific and legal steps to get it approved.

“This statement about the vaccine is her most irresponsible statement of all, I’m a doctor. I’m very encouraged by where we are with the vaccine,” said Barrasso.

Barrasso also criticized Harris’s record on health care, saying she wants to take away health care for 60 million to 100 million people who get it through employers and has campaigned to give illegal immigrants taxpayer-funded health insurance.

Harris’s office did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment.

The Wyoming Senator expressed confidence in the thoroughness and efficacy of the vaccine being developed.

“This is moving forward at warp speed. We’re in stage three trials. Multiple vaccines look like they’re going to work. We’re working on plans to get these to the states, so that our health care workers can get them, the most vulnerable can get them, people with preexisting conditions,” Barrasso said.

“The vaccine is the path forward for all of America, and yet what we see is, it’s not just Kamala Harris, 77-year-old Joe Biden said he wasn’t sure if the vaccine was safe, or real. When it comes to this vaccine, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are absolutely wrong.”

Barrasso was referring to a comment Harris made on Saturday to a CNN reporter about the efficacy of an Operation Warp Speed vaccine.

Operation Warp Speed is the code name for the administration’s effort to develop and distribute a CCP virus vaccine and therapeutics as soon as safely possible.

Harris told CNN on Saturday that she would not believe anything President Donald Trump says about a new COVID-19 vaccine, agreeing with concerns from media speculation, as reported by The Washington Post, that the president is looking to use the vaccine for political capital in the upcoming election.

Instead, Harris said she will continue to look to health experts for information on the efficacy of a potential vaccine. If Trump were to announce that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had granted an emergency use authorization (EUA) for a vaccine, she would “not take his word for it” and would have to look to another source of information.

“I will say that I would not trust Donald Trump and it would have to be a credible source of information that talks about the efficacy and the reliability of whatever he’s talking about,” she said.

Trump on Thursday said a vaccine could “potentially” be released by the end of October.

“It will be delivered before the end of the year, in my opinion, before the end of the year, but it really might even be delivered before the end of October,” he told reporters at the White House while talking about the all-of-government push under Operation Warp Speed to do whatever is possible to advance the creation and delivery of a suitable vaccine or therapeutic for emergency use by those who opt to do so.

Melanie Sun contributed to this report.