President Biden thanks many for COVID-19 vaccine success, omits Trump

President Biden on Monday thanked many for contributing to creating the COVID-19 vaccine while omitting former President Trump, whose Operation Warp Speed kickstarted the nation's vaccine production response to the virus.

"This vaccination effort has been a historical, logistical achievement for this nation," Biden said from the White House. "I want to thank the scientists and the researchers, the companies manufacturing the vaccines, the National Guard, the U.S. military, FEMA, the nation's governors, doctors, nurses pharmacists."

Trump during the pandemic created a public-private program with the drug companies to get enough financing to accelerate research and development of a vaccine. He also challenged the Food and Drug Administration to get the vaccine through the federal approval process in record time and grant it emergency-use approval. 

Moderna and AstraZeneca received federal money to help in the development or manufacturing of the vaccine. Pfizer got $1.95 billion under Warp Speed to deliver 100 million doses of its vaccine.

"Isn’t it incredible that because of the vaccines, which I and my Administration came up with years ahead of schedule, ... that we no longer need masks, and yet our names are not even mentioned in what everybody is calling the modern day miracle of the vaccines?" Trump asked Friday.