Washington, D.C. - Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader for the 116th Congress Greg Walden (R-OR), Republican Leader for the 117th Congress Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Health Subcommittee Republican Leader Dr. Michael Burgess (R-TX), and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Republican Leader Brett Guthrie (R-KY) released the following statement after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) allowing Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to be distributed across the country.
“This is great day for Americans as it marks the beginning of the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been a long, hard year and we are proud of the resilience of the American people. We applaud President Trump’s efforts and know this would not be possible without the historic public-private partnerships of Operation Warp Speed. We also thank the scientists who have spent countless hours working around the clock to develop a vaccine we are confident Americans can trust, as well as the volunteers who enrolled in clinical trials. We look forward to receiving a vaccine when one is available to us. The Energy and Commerce Committee will continue its oversight of COVID-19 response efforts - including ongoing efforts to bring additional vaccines to patients - and keep up the fight to rebuild, restore, and renew America," said Walden, Rodgers, Burgess, and Guthrie.
FDA’s EUA follows a strong 17-4 vote by a panel of non-political scientific experts tasked with reviewing Pfizer’s clinical trial safety and efficacy data. Read more about Operation Warp Speed here.
In August, Walden, Burgess, and Guthrie penned an op-ed for The Hill explaining why they trust the FDA’s strict safety protocols and plan to get the COVID-19 vaccine once it’s their turn. Read the piece here. Earlier this week, Walden penned an op-ed for the Washington Examiner on Operation Warp Speed, which you can read here.
