Art Caplan: Trump Has Done 'Severe Damage' For Science

Medical ethicist Art Caplan spoke with Boston Public Radio on Wednesday about President Donald Trump’s behavior towards a potential COVID-19 vaccine.

“Trump has really done severe damage - he’s beaten up the CDC, he’s beaten up the FDA, he’s gone after Fauci, and he definitely has put on the sidelines his own coronavirus task force,” he said. “He’s basically said, ‘I’m going on the anti-science platform.’”

Caplan worries about anti-vaxxers, regarding COVID-19.

“If we get a vaccine and we don’t get a lot of people taking it then a lot of the impact of the vaccine is gone,” he said. “When people start to say ‘Forget it, I’m not taking a vaccine,’ that’s horrible news for science.”

Art Caplan is the Drs. William F and Virginia Connolly Mitty Chair, and director of the Division of Medical Ethics at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine.