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The head of the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has said there are no deep state elements at the agency. His comments came after Donald Trump alleged workers of attempting to slow down a potential coronavirus vaccine. President Trump claimed in a tweet posted on Saturday that the FDA staff were working to delay vaccine results until after the election in November. He wrote on Twitter and said, “The deep state, or whoever, over at the FDA is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics. Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd”. President uses the term Deep State to refer to government staff he alleges are trying to undermine his administration.

The FDA commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn informed a news outlet that Trump’s comments were unfounded and said, “I have not seen anything that I would consider to be ‘deep state’ at the FDA. I enjoy a very good relationship with the president and I have discussed our decisions with him, and I feel very comfortable and continue to feel comfortable with that relationship”. Point to be noted that the FDA recently authorized a coronavirus treatment using blood plasma, which Trump welcomed on Sunday ahead of the start of the Republican National Convention. Dr. Hahn said the authorization was made based on scientific data and was in no way linked to political pressure.

Moreover, the country’s leading infectious diseases expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci and the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins both said they had concerns that the data didn’t warrant the decision. The FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn has walked back claims he made about the benefits of convalescent plasma against the coronavirus following a press conference with Donald Trump. It is noteworthy that scientists and health experts targeted Hahan on Sunday evening after the press conference because the commissioner claimed convalescent plasma could save 35 out of 100 people who had Covid-19. Hahn also said, “I have been criticized for remarks I made Sunday night about the benefits of convalescent plasma. The criticism is entirely justified”.