Washington: President Trump released a four-minute video message on Wednesday with updates on his battle with the coronavirus and calling his infection with COVID-19 “a blessing from God.”
Trump, clad in his trademark navy suit and red tie, spoke outside the Oval Office where he returned to work earlier in the day following two days in the residence.
The president praised a cocktail of experimental therapeutics with his rapid recovery after a four-day stay in the hospital and vowed to make these drugs available and free for every American struggling with the deadly respiratory drug.
“I went in, I wasn’t feeling so hot, and within a very short period of time they gave me Regeneron,” he said. “It was unbelievable. I felt good immediately. I felt as good three days ago as I do now,” he went on.
The commander-in-chief was helicoptered to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Friday with a spiking temperature and dropping oxygen levels — vital signs that his chief of staff Mark Meadows described as “very concerning.”
A “fatigued” Trump was administered Regeneron’s polyclonal antibody cocktail to help his body battle COVID-19, a treatment which is still in clinical trials and has yet to be approved for wider use.
He was released on Monday and has been recovering at the White House residence. Dr. Sean Conley, the president’s physician, has been pleased with Trump’s progress but cautioned that the 74-year-old commander-in-chief isn’t out of the woods yet.
In the video address, Trump seemed downbeat at the prospects of a vaccine before Election Day, saying political maneuvering had stymied progress. What has happened is that after objections, White House has endorsed FDA’s plans for assessing whether a Covid-19 vaccine should be given to the public, making it likely that a shot won’t be cleared until after the election.
The FDA issued the guidelines soon afterward on Tuesday afternoon, saying it hopes the release “helps the public understand our science-based decision-making process that assures vaccine quality, safety and efficacy for any vaccine that is authorized.
