White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn he needed to grant an emergency use authorization for Pfizer/BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine by the end of Friday, and if not, he needs to resign, an administration official and a source familiar with the situation tell CNN.
Another person familiar with matter, who also confirmed the demand that the vaccine be authorized by the end of Friday, said
President Donald Trump has been venting about the FDA chief since the
vaccine was rolled out in the UK earlier this week.
The two men had a call Friday morning. A White House official said they do not comment on private conversations but the chief “regularly requests updates on the progress toward a vaccine.”
