Trump says coronavirus treatment could be ready before true vaccine

President Trump praised U.S. pharmaceutical companies working to develop coronavirus treatments on Monday, telling supports at a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, that some therapies may be available before a true vaccine hits the market.

Trump’s remarks came hours after top administration leaders met with pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms at the White House to discuss their efforts to develop a cure for coronavirus. The deadly illness had infected more than 89,000 people and killed more than 3,000 people around the world as of Monday afternoon.

“They’re really working hard and they’re working smart. We had a great meeting with a lot of great companies,” Trump said at the “Keep America Great” rally. “They’re going to have vaccines, I think, relatively soon, and they’re going to have something that makes you better, and that’s actually going to take place even sooner.”

Coronavirus originated in China and has since spread to several countries around the world, prompting fears of a global pandemic. To date, there are at least 80 confirmed cases in the United States. At least six people have died from coronavirus, all in Washington State.

Speaking to Trump at the White House meeting, Executives from Gilead Sciences



said they are making progress on an antiviral drug to treat coronavirus symptoms. Executives from Sanofi said they could produce up to 600 million doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine per year.

Trump said his administration took “the most aggressive action in modern history” to combat the coronavirus, including travel restrictions from affected regions. The president tapped Vice President Mike Pence to lead his administration’s task force seeking to halt the virus’ spread.

“We’re going to reduce the severity of what’s happening, the duration of the virus. We discussed all of these things,” Trump said. “We will bring these therapies to market as rapidly as possible. I have to say, with thriving economy the way it is and the most advanced health system on earth, America is so resilient. We know what we’re doing.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rebounded on Monday, closing more than 1,200 points higher after entering correction territory last week.

“Today we just had the largest one-day increase in the stock market in history,” Trump said. “Our opponents were saying, ‘oh, maybe he’s in trouble, maybe the economy…do you think our opponents were thrilled when they saw the stock market today? I don’t think so.