Trump’s announcement is about FDA’s approval of a Coronavirus ‘test’ developed by Roche, not a vaccine

A video clip is widely being shared on Facebook with the claim that American President Donald Trump has announced that Roche Medical Company will launch the vaccine for COVID-19 next Sunday and millions of doses are ready for usage. Let’s check the authenticity of the claim made in the post.

Claim: Video of American President Donald Trump announcing that Roche Medical Company will launch the vaccine for COVID-19 next Sunday.

Fact: In the video, American President Donald Trump hasn’t said that Roche Medical Company will launch the vaccine for COVID-19. He announced FDA’s approval of a Coronavirus ‘test’ developed by a company ‘Roche’ to increase and accelerate the country’s capacity to test for the virus. So, the claim isFALSE.  

In the video clip posted, Donald Trump hands over the podium to Roche Diagnostics Chief Executive Officer for North America Matt Sause. Then Matt speaks- ‘Thank you, Mr. President.  So, from Roche, we want to thank the FDA for their rapid approval of our coronavirus test. We really appreciate the partnership with the CDC and the FDA to get that to market as fast as possible because it’s critical for us to make that available to help patients in need, and working with laboratories to get it up and going in the near future, which will bring hundreds of thousands of tests available to patients in need in the United States. So, thank you’. After Matt’s speech, the clip ends with Trump saying- ‘And you can do it.  You can do it.  A great company’. So, in the video clip, Roche Diagnostics CEO for North America Matt Sause thanked FDA (U.S Food and Drug Administration) for rapid approval of the coronavirus test developed by their company.

When searched with keywords, the full video of the clip posted was found on ‘The White House’ website. In that video dated 13 March 2020 (Friday), Trump declares ‘National emergency’ and then opens $50 billion for the states and territories to fight against the disease. Later, Trump announces that the FDA has approved a Coronavirus test developed by ‘Roche’ to increase and accelerate the country’s capacity to test for the virus. He also said that he was expecting the availability of half a million additional tests early next week and would be announcing the locations for tests on Sunday. Later in the video, Vice President Pence and members of Coronavirus Task Force spoke in that press conference. From the Roche diagnostics website, it is found that the company has begun shipping of COVID-19 tests to laboratories across the US recently to begin testing of patients.

As per the website of U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH), currently, no approved vaccines exist to prevent infection with Coronavirus. But, Phase 1 of the clinical trial evaluating an investigational vaccine (mRNA-1273) designed to protect against COVID-19 has begun on 16 March. And it is the first of multiple steps in the clinical trial process for evaluating the potential benefit of that vaccine. The vaccine was developed by NIAID (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) scientists and their collaborators at the biotechnology company Moderna, Inc.

To sum it up, in the video, American President Donald Trump has announced that the FDA has approved a Coronavirus ‘test’ developed by a company ‘Roche’.

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