Since the early days of the pandemic, CBS News has repeatedly suggested the Trump administration was not taking coronavirus seriously and was doing next to nothing to address it. But on Thursday, the CBS Evening News was disgusted after learning that the administration was in the process of stockpiling glass vials in anticipation of a vaccine.
On top of that, they omitted how the administration was funding groundbreaking syringe manufacturing techniques that would eventually eliminate the need for glass vials.
“A potential coronavirus vaccine made by the Massachusetts-based company Moderna should go into advanced trials later this month. But even if a vaccine is proven to be safe and effective, there are concerns that a global shortage of specialized glass for vaccine vials could delay its rollout,” warned fill-in anchor Margaret Brennan.
The report delivered by correspondent Imtiaz Tyab initially focused on the work of the Serum Institute of India, who was “the world's largest manufacturer of vaccines” and was working with “AstraZeneca to produce over a billion doses of the vaccine being trialed by Oxford University.”
Speaking on the destitution concerns, Tyab suggested: “Glass vials are the safest way, they can withstand cold temperatures, are resistant to contamination, but they require highly specialized machinery to make. And if at least 7.7 billion glass vials are needed to treat every single person on the planet, there is nowhere near enough.”
Beyond his science-free claim that 7.7 billion glass vials would be needed (not every single person on the planet would need to vaccinated, and the vials could be sterilized and reused), Tyab was aghast that the President was trying to secure what Americans needed to be safe:
The Trump administration has been trying to secure supplies only for the U.S. But scientists at the WHO are warning that America-first approach will only prolong this still very global pandemic, even with an effective vaccine.
So, according to CBS, Trump wasn’t doing enough for Americans while at the same time being too nationalistic and not thinking about the rest of the world.
But according to an NBC report from May 12, the Trump administration had allocated $138 million to a groundbreaking manufacturing technique for syringes. “The departments of Defense and Health and Human Services will now partner with health start-up Apiject Systems America. The company makes plastic prefilled syringes,” reported correspondent Gabe Gutierrez on NBC Nightly News.
Gutierrez noted the problems inherent in relying only on glass vials, especially ones manufactured in other countries:
In an exclusive interview, CEO Jay Walker says the syringe will be made faster and will cost less than $1 to produce. Much cheaper than the cost of making glass vials to hold vaccines.
(…)
And those glass vials are largely manufactured overseas. There's also the stoppers needed to close the vial. Experts warn that our reliance on an overseas supply chain is a major national security issue.
That was the truth CBS was trying to hide from their viewers.
CBS’s deceptive report decrying Trump’s work for the American people was sponsored by Amazon and Downy. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CBS Evening News
July 9, 2020
6:42:21 p.m. EasternMARGARET BRENNAN: A potential coronavirus vaccine made by the Massachusetts-based company Moderna should go into advanced trials later this month. But even if a vaccine is proven to be safe and effective, there are concerns that a global shortage of specialized glass for vaccine vials could delay its rollout. CBS's Imtiaz Tyab takes a look inside a vaccine mega factory as we continue our series Racing to a Cure.
[Cuts to video]
IMTIAZ TYAB: If the race for developing a successful coronavirus vaccine is moving at warp speed, then this factory floor will be a crucial finishing line. The Serum Institute of India is the world's largest manufacturer of vaccines and has been tapped by pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca to produce over a billion doses of the vaccine being trialed by Oxford University.
ADAR POONAWALLA (CEO, SII): We’ve dedicated all of our manufacturing facilities at the moment for the AstraZeneca product.
TYAB: If the Oxford vaccine trials are successful, there are serious concerns about how to distribute it. Glass vials are the safest way, they can withstand cold temperatures, are resistant to contamination, but they require highly specialized machinery to make. And if at least 7.7 billion glass vials are needed to treat every single person on the planet, there is nowhere near enough.
DR. PRASHANT YADAV (Harvard Medical School): We are in a situation where lots of things have to come together. As you know, such coordination efforts at that scale also depend to a great degree on political coordination.
TYAB: The Trump administration has been trying to secure supplies only for the U.S. But scientists at the WHO are warning that America-first approach will only prolong this still very global pandemic, even with an effective vaccine. Imtiaz Tyab, CBS News, London.
