'Our plan will crush the virus, Biden's plan will crush America': Donald Trump

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic with the United States still being the worst affected country in the world, US President Donald Trump has reiterated the confidence on his administration's measures to counter the virus with the vaccines that are in development in the US. He also targeted his opponent and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

While hitting out at Biden over his plan of continuous lockdowns to counter the COVID-19 surge, Trump said, "Biden opposed China and Europe travel ban & strategies that they have was just never-ending lockdowns. We are not locking down, we are actually growing at the rate that we have never experienced before."

"We have created the fastest economic recovery in American history," he said while adding "our plan will crush the virus, Biden's plan will crush America. Our approach is pro-science, Biden's approach is anti-science. I don't know what their approach is, although a lot of it is copied from what we have done."

He also reiterated Johnson & Johnson's announcement that their vaccine candidate is in final stages of clinical trials.

"This is the fourth candidate who reached final stages of trials," he said. "We encourage Americans to enrol in vaccine trials, it'll be a terrific thing for our country," he added.

READ | COVID-19 Vaccine Status Tracker And Average Time Taken For Other Viruses In History

READ | WHO Gives Green Light To Protocols For Testing Of African Herbal medicines Against COVID

COVID-19 situation in US

The US has reported over 71 lakh COVID-19 infections and over 2 lakh deaths so far, according to Worldometers data. Out of the total infections, nearly 44 lakh cases have said to be recovered while over 25 lakh are active cases. The country has four vaccine candidates in the development, according to Trump, of which Moderna's candidate mRNA-1273 is making the rounds of leading the race, while another one is Pfizer's candidate BNT162b2, besides the Johnson & Johnson's vaccine candidate Ad26.COV2-S.

Also, vaccine development remains a critical subject for the US, not only from the perspective of the counter measure for COVID-19 but also from the perspective of the upcoming presidential election, which is scheduled for November 3 this year. While Trump has said a potential vaccine would soon be developed, critics and opposition have expressed apprehension over the safety and efficacy of the vaccine which, if announced before the elections, will then be said to be developed in the backdrop of election.

READ | 50 Pc Efficacy In Phase 3 Trials Needed For COVID-19 Vaccine Approval: Drug Authority's Draft Guidelines