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China sanctions Pompeo, O’Brien, Azar and different Trump administration officers

China sanctions Pompeo, O'Brien, Azar and other Trump administration officials

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a press conference at the Great Hall of the People on June 14, 2018 in Beijing, China.

Lintao Zhang | Getty Images

WASHINGTON – The Chinese government, along with other members of the Trump administration, imposed sanctions on former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien and former Trade Advisor Peter Navarro on Wednesday.

“In recent years, out of selfish political interests, prejudice and hatred of China, and regardless of the interests of the Chinese and American people, some anti-China politicians in the United States have planned, promoted, and carried out a series of insane moves that are have been heavily involved in China’s internal affairs, undermined China’s interests, insulted the Chinese people and seriously disrupted China-US relations, “the State Department wrote in a statement.

“China has decided to sanction 28 people who have seriously violated China’s sovereignty and who were primarily responsible for such US actions against China,” the statement also said.

The Chinese government also appointed Former Deputy National Security Advisor Matthew Pottinger, Former Secretary for Health and Human Services Alex Azar, Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft, Deputy Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell, and Secretary of State for Economic growth, energy and the environment Keith Krach.

Former National Security Advisor John Bolton and Stephen Bannon were also sanctioned on Wednesday.

“These people and their immediate family members are prohibited from entering mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. They and their affiliated companies and institutions are also prohibited from doing business with China,” the State Department said in a statement.

US President Donald Trump (L) and China’s President Xi Jinping shake hands at a press conference after their meeting outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Artyom Ivanov | TASS | Getty Images

The crumbling relationship between Washington and Beijing deepened under the Trump administration after the world’s two largest economies attempted to improve trade ties.

Chinese State Department spokeswoman Hua previously said the Trump administration was “pushing the accelerator to destroy China-US relations”.

“Certain US politicians are so irresponsible that they say whatever has to be said to target China,” she added last summer.

Their comments followed a glowing speech by then-US Attorney General Bill Barr, in which he accused the Chinese government of human rights abuses, espionage and economic blitzkrieg.

“The People’s Republic of China is now in an economic blitzkrieg – an aggressive, orchestrated campaign by the entire government to conquer the dominant heights of the world economy and surpass the United States as the pre-eminent superpower in the world,” Barr said during a speech on Nov. July.

In June, O’Brien slammed China on a list of criminal offenses before saying that “the days of American passivity and naivete about the People’s Republic of China are over”.

Pompeo, who previously referred to Huawei and other state-backed Chinese companies as “Trojan horses for Chinese intelligence”. In July, Pompeo announced that the US was considering banning TikTok and other Chinese social media apps, citing national security concerns.

The Trump administration has also blamed China for the deadly health crisis caused by the coronavirus.

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Business

Dr. Fauci, Azar obtain Moderna’s Covid vaccine as rollout begins

Dr. Fauci, Azar receive Moderna's Covid vaccine as rollout begins

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The director of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, US Secretary of Health Alex Azar and other senior health officials are expected to receive the Covid-19 vaccine from Moderna on Tuesday morning.

The director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, is also said to be shot. According to the NIH, six health care workers at the NIH Clinical Center will also receive the Moderna vaccine, which the Food and Drug Administration approved for emergency use last week.

It is the agency’s first delivery of 100 doses, NIH said, and additional NIH Clinical Center health care workers will receive the vaccine after the public event. The agency expects to get a larger shipment from the state of Maryland next week for more frontline healthcare workers.

The event comes after a series of public vaccination ceremonies were held as the first doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were distributed across the country. Senior US officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, US Surgeon General Jerome Adams, and President-elect Joe Biden, have received their vaccines at television events.

Fauci has long said that he will take the vaccine publicly as soon as it becomes available to encourage Americans to get the vaccine.

Read CNBC’s live updates for the latest news on the Covid-19 outbreak.

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Health

HHS Secretary Azar says Pfizer retains U.S. at ‘arm’s size’ on manufacturing

HHS Secretary Azar says Pfizer keeps U.S. at 'arm's length' on manufacturing

Minister of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said Thursday he wanted “more insight” into how the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine is made. The US drug manufacturer kept the federal government on a “customary market basis” throughout the process.

Unlike other drug companies, Pfizer did not accept federal funding to develop or manufacture its vaccine. Pfizer has signed a contract with the United States to supply 100 million doses of its vaccine as part of Operation Warp Speed. This is enough to vaccinate 50 million Americans, as the vaccine takes two doses three weeks apart. Pfizer is also negotiating an additional 100 million doses with the US.

“You’re part of Operation Warp Speed, but … it’s a different relationship” than the government deals with Moderna and other federal drug companies that have received federal funding, Azar told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” during an interview Thursday. “We pull together, give [Pfizer] A guaranteed purchase that allows them to make capital investments has a predictable buyer, but we don’t have full visibility into their making because they kept this a bit more on-market. “

But Azar said he would like to see the federal government’s relationship with Pfizer change.

“We are working with Pfizer. We are very optimistic that we will be securing additional volumes in the second quarter, but they will need our help making them,” he said. Azar also noted that Pfizer originally said it would produce 100 million cans by the end of the year but “had to cut that in half to 50 million”.

Later on Thursday, Pfizer issued a statement saying the company “has no production issues with our COVID-19 vaccine and no shipments containing the vaccine will be put on hold or delayed”.

The company also “continuously” exchanged information on “all aspects of our production and sales capacities” in weekly meetings with HHS and Operation Warp Speed.

“They have visited our facilities, walked the production lines and were informed of our production planning as soon as information became available,” said Pfizer.

His emergency vaccine was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on Friday. The first doses of Pfizer’s vaccine were shipped to the United States over the weekend and the Americans received gunfire on Monday.

The initial doses of the Pfizer vaccine are limited as production begins. Officials predict it will be months before everyone in the US who wants to be vaccinated is vaccinated. The US shipped 2.9 million doses of the vaccine this week with an additional 2 million expected next week, General Gustave Perna, who oversees logistics for Operation Warp Speed, told reporters on Wednesday. The US hopes to vaccinate 20 million people by the end of the year.

Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Pfizer’s target for vaccine launch of 50 million doses worldwide by the end of the year was only half of what it originally planned. In a statement, Pfizer said there were several factors influencing the number of estimated doses, including increasing the size of a vaccine at an “unprecedented” pace.

When asked Thursday why Pfizer is unable to produce more cans, Azar said the US would offer “to help them get a higher yield if they are willing to enlist our help” .

He said the problem was not a cost issue, adding, “We’re working with them.”

“The discussions are very productive,” he said. “We will use the full power of the US government to support and maximize production, as we have always wanted. I am very optimistic that we will find a good place there.”