THE PRESIDENT: I think it was something we have to really consider very strongly.
DR. HAHN: Yes, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: I think it’s fantastic.
You should get credit for that.
Q Thank you, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. That’s very good.
Q Mr. President?
THE PRESIDENT: Please, in the back. OAN, please.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. Convalescent — convalescent plasma, as a treatment, has been around for, you know, over 100 years. You mentioned Warp — Operation Warp Speed, which enabled this process to move along a lot faster. What into the — what went into the effort for this to be approved for COVID-19? And was that holdup political in nature?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think that there might have been a holdup, but we broke the logjam over the last week, to be honest. I think that there are people in the FDA and actually in your larger department that can see things being held up and wouldn’t mind so much. That’s my opinion — a very strong opinion. And that’s for political reasons. This has nothing to do with politics; this has to do with life and death.
So we are being very strong, and we are being very forthright, and we have got some incredible answers. And we’re not going to let them be held up because every day is lives. And we’re not going to let that happen. Okay?
Very good. Thank you.
Q Mr. President?
THE PRESIDENT: Please, go ahead.
Q Mr. President, in announcing this today, you said that “the FDA has made the independent determination that the treatment is safe and very effective.” Yet, Dr. Hahn, just said it was showing “promising efficacy.” So which of the two is correct?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think I’ll let Dr. Hahn answer that question.
DR. HAHN: So, under our legal authority for emergency use authorization, this is not the same as an approval, but it’s an authorization. And it allows us to expand the access to this. And our data — we know we’re going to continue to collect data. We knew that for all of our E- — emergency use authorizations.
So, for example, remdesivir, which approves — was approved or authorized on May 1st, we’re still collecting data. And we will continue to do that with plasma as well.
So it’s the nuances of the language around the authorization that we use and the legal aspects, too.
Q So it’s a promising treatment; it’s not — you couldn’t say it’s very effective just yet?
DR. HAHN: So I would say that a 35 — if you’re one of those 35 out of 100 people who these data suggest or show survive as a result of it, this is pretty significant for that person and their family.
THE PRESIDENT: Okay? This is a very big day. It’s a day we’ve been looking forward to. Thank you very much. Great question. Thank you very
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