"I think he just made a mistake.”

Trump Again Scorns Science on Vaccine and Masks

—NYT

     President Trump slapped down Dr. Robert Redfield, the CDC chief, saying his emphasis on masks and his projected vaccine timeline were wrong. It was perhaps the starkest example of Mr. Trump rejecting the advice of public health officials and the facts they provide.

     President Trump rebuked the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday, saying that Dr. Robert R. Redfield offered “incorrect information” when he told a Senate panel earlier in the day that a coronavirus vaccine was unlikely to be widely available before the middle of next year.

     “I saw the statement — I called him,” Mr. Trump told reporters during a news briefing at the White House. “I said, ‘What did you mean by that?’ And I think he just made a mistake.”

     The president also said that Dr. Redfield was wrong to say that a mask is more effective than a vaccine.

     “The mask is not as important as the vaccine,” the president asserted, adding, “The mask, perhaps, helps.

     “When I called up Robert today, I said, ‘What’s with the mask?’” Mr. Trump said. “He said, ‘I think I answered that question incorrectly.’ I think maybe he had misunderstood it,” he added.

     Dr. Redfield had told senators that even if a vaccine were available now, vaccinating enough Americans for widespread immunity could take six to nine months. He estimated that one could be available for limited use by the end of the year, and for wider distribution by the middle of 2021, echoing a timeline that other top health officials, including Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, had used in recent weeks.

. . .

     But Mr. Trump asserted several times that his C.D.C. chief was wrong. “I got the impression that he didn’t realize he said what he might have said,” the president said. Asked whether he still had “confidence” in Dr. Redfield, Mr. Trump said, “I do.”

     The president has repeatedly claimed that a vaccine could be available before Election Day, a timeline that most health experts say is unrealistic, prompting concerns that the Food and Drug Administration might give emergency authorization to a vaccine before it has been fully vetted for safety and effectiveness. Nine pharmaceutical companies have pledged to “stand with science” and to not push through any product that didn’t stand up to scientific scrutiny.

. . .

     Mr. Trump said at a town-hall-style event on Tuesday night that a vaccine could be ready within “three weeks, four weeks.”....