Trump's controversial special adviser on coronavirus resigns
WASHINGTON: The controversial special adviser on the coronavirus to President Donald Trump has quit.
During his four months as adviser, Dr Scott Atlas clashed repeatedly with other members of the coronavirus task force.
"I am writing to resign from my position as special adviser to the president of the United States," Dr Atlas said in a letter to Mr Trump dated Dec 1.
Public health experts, including Dr Anthony Fauci, the leading US infectious disease expert, have sharply criticised Prof Atlas, a neuro-radiologist, for providing Mr Trump with misleading or incorrect information on the virus pandemic.
"Dr Scott Atlas' resignation today is long overdue and underscores the triumph of science and truth over falsehoods and misinformation," his peers at Stanford University's medical school said in a statement.
In his resignation letter, Dr Atlas, a senior fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution, listed what he considered accomplishments in reopening schools and expanding virus testing while also defending himself against his many critics.
Meanwhile, US Health Secretary Alex Azar said Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine could be authorised and shipped within days of a Dec 10 meeting of outside advisers to the Food and Drug Administration tasked with reviewing trial data and recommending its approval.
Moderna's vaccine could follow a week later, he said, after the firm said on Monday that it would apply for US and European emergency authorisation. "So we could be seeing both of these vaccines out and getting into people's arms before Christmas," Mr Azar said on CBS. - REUTERS
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
