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 Susan Walsh/APIn May, President Trump tapped Moncef Slaoui to become what was dubbed his "Coronavirus Czar" and lead Operation Warp Speed, the White House initiative to expedite a coronavirus vaccine. Along with Gen. Gustave F. Perna, Slaoui has set up temporary offices on the seventh floor of the Department of Health and Human Services to assemble plans to test new vaccines.
Slaoui is a molecular biologist and immunologist and was chairman of vaccines at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, where he worked for 30 years. Industry leaders, predictably, praised the appointment, and watchdogs like Public Citizen said his background was too corporate. Meanwhile, experts have been concerned that Operation Warp Speed has issued no public standards or explanations for choosing vaccine candidates and may rush vaccines through approval.
An understanding of Slaoui's biography and his time at GSK may add to those concerns. While working for the Pharma giant, Slaoui helped misrepresent scientific research on a drug that had harmed tens of thousands of Americans. Since the Trump administration has shifted its COVID-19 strategy to favor vaccine development, this means America's hopes for addressing the pandemic rests with someone who was at the epicenter of one of
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 President Donald Trump is expected to travel to Doral, Florida, later this week, landing squarely in the center of a coronavirus hotspot and taxing the already limited local health resources.
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Bolsonaro confirmed the test results while wearing a mask and speaking to reporters in Brasilia.
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(Third column, 13th story, link)
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As hospitals deal with a resurgent coronavirus outbreak, White House officials and the President himself continue to tout the country's alleged success at addressing the virus.
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