Trumps post-election tantrum is holding up federal vaccine planning

After months of mounting case counts and strained hospital capacity, the past two weeks have brought us some overdue good news in our struggle with the coronavirus pandemic. Both Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna have announced unexpectedly promising results for their COVID-19 vaccine, which — if they get the FDA’s signoff — could be ready for public use next year. For the first time since the pandemic began, it feels like we have a clear path to returning to everyday life.

If they are authorized, getting those vaccines out to the general US public will require a huge federal effort, one that is already getting caught in the chaos of the outgoing Trump administration. Two weeks after Election Day, President Trump has yet to acknowledge that...

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