President Trump Urges Companies To Accelerate Efforts On Making Coronavirus Vaccine

With the coronavirus spreading across the world, pharmaceutical companies are scrambling to find an effective vaccine. President Donald Trump spoke about how he urged pharmaceutical companies to accelerate their efforts in doing so. This statement came a day after the second death related to the coronavirus was confirmed in the United States. He was with the President of Colombia, Dubuque Marquez, in the Oval Office and told reporters that he will have an upcoming meeting with pharmaceutical company representatives about the virus.

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During this press conference, Donald Trump told reporters, "We are working very hard with the CDC, with everyone on a subject that has become a big subject. We have big meetings with the most powerful companies in the world. When it comes to drugs and vaccines, maybe a cure is possible, so we'll see about that. We're going to have another subject, vaccines, and how they're doing... We've asked them to accelerate whatever they're doing in terms of vaccines, absolutely."

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Reporters asked the president if he believes that it's safe to still hold campaign rallies for the upcoming primaries and presidential election despite the health warnings, the ongoing flu season, and general panic. He said that they should "ask the Democrats," and continued that he thinks it's safe. Despite this, there is growing panic in the US about the coronavirus, especially after two dozen cases were confirmed just this past weekend and the second person in the US died from the coronavirus.

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Donald Trump also told reporters, "We're also working with other countries to help them because they really have a fear of the unknown. We're working very much with a lot of other countries- including Colombia- but we're working with a lot of other countries on helping them with respecting this problem, and again, we're doing very well." In the meantime, the US has issued travel restrictions for countries where the virus has spread a lot, including Italy, Iran, and South Korea.

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The US anticipates that the virus will spread throughout the country, especially as cases of the coronavirus emerged among people who have never had contact with anyone who had the virus. There are at least 91 confirmed cases in the United States. Across the world, the number is reaching approximately 90,000, of which more than half have recovered. But there have also been 3,000 deaths, most of which took place in China. Worldwide health organizations recommend that people avoid the virus by staying home when they're sick and to wash their hands frequently.