-Over the weekend, the crowd
at a Trump rally booed COVID vaccines
and then, this morning, the FDA finally granted
full approval to the Pfizer vaccine,
which is huge news in the campaign
to get more people vaccinated.
For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
♪♪
Polls have shown that a sizable portion of Americans
who remain unvaccinated might be persuaded to get the shot
if the FDA granted it full approval.
So far, the vaccines have been distributed under what's known
as an emergency use authorization
and a poll earlier this month found that...
And, look, I'll admit, it can be confusing to follow.
We all wish the FDA and the CDC could be more like the SFC,
which is an organization where people...
[ Laughter ] Trying to make sense
of all the announcements and updates and guidelines
from the FDA and the CDC can make you feel like
an out-of-towner reading one of those signs
about service changes on the subway...
[ Laughter ]
Personally, I did not care what kind of authorization
the vaccine had. The second they said
I was eligible, I lined up outside Javits
like I was trying to get tickets to "SNL" the week BTS was on.
Or the week I hosted.
Should've seen the sidewalk outside 30 Rock.
[ Laughter ] [ Wind blowing ]
-Seth Meyers?
I thought that guy was too good for an audience.
[ Laughter ] [ Wind blowing ]
And that's our entire annual animation budget.
[ Laughter ]
[ Snaps fingers ] The point is experts
have predicted that full FDA approval of the vaccines
could help persuade some of the unvaccinated to get their shots.
Well, this morning, the FDA finally granted
that full approval to Pfizer's jab,
which is huge news and a big boost
to the vaccination campaign.
And not only does it now have full approval,
it could even be marketed under a new name.
-Breaking news. The FDA has granted full approval
to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
This is a key step in getting more Americans vaccinated.
It comes more than nine months
after the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine
was administered in this country.
The decision could motivate millions of Americans
who still have not received a vaccine
to finally get the shot.
The data is behind it.
It saves lives.
It keeps people out of the hospital.
-We are now learning that that Pfizer vaccine for COVID
will be marketed under a new name.
It will be called Comirnaty.
Comirnaty is the new name that will be marketed
for the Pfizer COVID vaccine.
-This is amazing news that will hopefully
convince more people to get vaccinated
and we should all be thrilled, but also huge news --
that I guess we finally ran out of pharmaceutical names.
What's up with Comirnaty?
[ Laughter ]
Did the approval catch Pfizer so off-guard
that they yelled out a name before they were ready?
"I vote Comirnaty!"
[ Laughter ]
Also, it had already had a great name --
Pfizer vaccine.
I mean, I understand using a complicated name,
like Viberzi or Xifaxan, for IBS drugs,
so you don't have to ask your doctor about,
I don't know, Diarrhea-Be-Gone,
[ Laughter ] although it all goes out the window
when they have to have mascots that are literally intestines.
You know what would be a good mascot for a vaccine drug?
A wallet with a vaccine card sticking out of it
because they don't fit.
[ Laughter ] The FDA better never approve
this dump [bleep] shape.
[ Laughter ] Now, you might be wondering
how they came up with this name. Apparently...
[ Inhaling ]
[ Laughter ]
So it actually like makes sense, dude.
[ Laughter ]
God, it's like a riddle
Tom Hanks would have to solve
in "The Da Vinci Code"
to find out the location of the Holy Grail.
"It's in Toledo!
Wait. I don't think we did this right."
[ Laughter ] There are so many different words embedded in this name,
it's giving me flashbacks to yesterday's
New York Times Spelling Bee.
"I was one word away from genius.
You're telling me I missed tall?
Screw you, spelling bee!
I'm going back to KenKen."
By the way, it is possible to have a much better name.
You know what Moderna's vaccine is called?
Spikevax!
[ Laughter ] Hell, yeah!
That sounds like a vaccine that protects you from COVID
and gives you a Mohawk,
or one of those sketchy boner pills
they have at the bodega.
Spikevax sounds like the drugs teens are using
in a YA sci-fi series called, I Don't Know...
[ Laughter ]
The point is this is huge news
and it will, hopefully, be super helpful
in persuading more people to take the vaccine.
Of course, another thing that might be helpful would be
getting Donald Trump, the leader of the Republican Party,
to tell his supporters to get it, given that just...
For months, friends and allies of Trump
have been desperately trying to persuade him
to promote the COVID vaccine to his supporters
and promotion is the one thing he should be good at.
He is a salesman and a marketer and it's not like he needs
full FDA approval to push a product.
Let's not forget Trump used to sell health products,
like scam vitamin C,
marketed through something called the Trump Network.
And, if there's anyone you can trust
to tailor something to your specification,
it's old Bag Suit, here.
[ Laughter ]
I do like the idea that a bunch of people
sent Trump their urine in the mail
and he had to figure out what to do with it
because you know Trump wouldn't just throw it away.
He'd come up with the dumbest
and most illegal solution to make money.
[ As Trump ] Let's sell it to teens,
to use before they take drug tests.
We can give it a catchy name,
like Comirnaty.
[ Laughter ]
Trump had no qualms at all about pushing sketchy vitamins
and, yet, for months, he resisted attempts
by friends and allies to convince him
to promote a lifesaving vaccine to his supporters.
Oh, Lindsey, haven't you learned by now?
It only goes one way.
Trump doesn't listen to you.
You take orders from him.
Trump's like the big city businessman
in a Tennessee Williams play
who moves into town to buy up all the land
and Graham's the little boy who does one-off jobs for him,
hoping Trump will toss him a nickel.
[ As Graham ] Meemaw! Meemaw!
Mr. Trump said he'd give me a job in New York City,
if I help him steal the oil lease from the Hendersons.
No, you can't come with me, Meemaw!
[ Laughter ] I'm going to make a name for myself
and I don't want you bumming everybody out
with your carpal tunnel sleeve.
[ Laughter ]
That's not to say Trump doesn't listen to anyone.
He just listens to the last person who spoke to him.
Like when Graham told Trump to promote the vaccine,
I'm sure Trump agreed and then, he probably turned around
and took a phone call from some anti-vaxx nut job,
Mike Lindell, a Trump friend and ally who is
so virulently anti-vaccine, he actually got muted at the
Conservative Political Action Conference earlier this year.
-In Israel, right now,
from the prime minister on down,
we don't know what happened,
but, obviously, congratulated Biden,
but after that, we got a little suspect.
Well, right now, with the vaccine over there,
they're making the whole country take it,
so you can't go in shopping malls.
You won't be able to get a job.
And, if this happens, it's the start for the world
and the worst thing that could happen to this world.
What do you care what someone else does?
If that person wants to come to a mall
and they don't want to get vaccine.
This is our bodies.
This is mark of the beast stuff and I don't care.
I'll just put it right out there.
This is Revelation.
I mean, if you're going to make them do that
over in Israel.
And why do you think they went to Israel first?
What?! You know,
that's kind of strange. -[ Laughing ]
-This is weird, guys.
It actually started --
The list started in Spain.
It started in Spain,
where Spain started putting people
on this new world list.
They're telling you wear a double mask
and do all this other stuff.
Let me tell ya, that's not
[ No audio ]
[ Laughter ]
-I mean, I bet he was mad they cut his mic,
but he also had to be mad with the picture
they put up next to him while he's talking.
[ As Lindell ] Don't put up the picture of me
hugging the pillow like it's my lover!
Not when I'm talking science!
[ Laughter ]
I mean, they cut off his mic, but I feel like
it's also possible his mouth just never stops moving,
even when he's done talking.
If he really wanted to scare people off the vaccine,
he should just tell people he got it.
"Oh, wow. You took the vaccine and, now, you're like this?
Well, thank you for the heads-up."
[ Laughter ] And even Trump himself,
when he's taking credit for the vaccine,
can't help but use it as an occasion
to criticize Biden, as he did last week on Fox Business.
-I'm very proud of the vaccine.
I've taken the vaccine.
I'm very, very proud of it.
At the same time, some people don't want to take it
and, you know, when I was president,
you didn't have this problem
with people not wanting to take it.
They don't take it because they don't trust Biden
and they don't trust the Biden administration.
-People don't trust Biden?
I mean, say what you will about the guy,
but he's way more trustworthy than you,
according to both polls and common sense.
If you asked Trump about vaccines,
he'd end up rambling about Hillary's emails
or windmills killing birds, but, with Biden,
you know, he's not holding anything back
because he immediately blurts it out.
His aides must watch him talk to reporters
the same way you watch your grandpa talk
to your coworkers at your wedding.
What was he saying to you guys?
"Well, we just asked him if he was proud of you
and then, he told us about the time
you peed your pants in Little League."
[ Laughter ] So for months, Trump routinely
rejected pleas to promote the vaccine
and, even when he did talk about it,
he used it as an opportunity to criticize Biden.
He associates himself with anti-vaxxers
and outlets that traffic
in vaccine conspiracy theories and lies.
That's the political movement
he and his supporters in the GOP
and in right wing media have cultivated.
So it should come as no surprise that,
when Trump told his supporters at a rally over the weekend
that they should get the vaccine,
well, they did not react well to it.
-I believe totally in your freedoms. I do.
[ Cheering and applause ] You gotta do what you have to do.
But, I recommend
take the vaccines! I did it.
It's good. Take the vaccines.
[ Booing ] But you got --
No, that's okay. That's alright.
[ Booing continues ] You got your freedoms.
But I happened to take the vaccine.
If it doesn't work, you'll be the first to know, okay?
[ Laughter and applause ]
I'll call up Alabama, say,
"Hey, you know what?"
But it is working.
-That really illustrates
the core problem of the Trump movement.
Yes, his followers listen to him,
but he also listens to them.
In fact, he doesn't just listen to them.
He's desperate for their approval
and terrified of pissing them off.
[ As Trump ] Take the vaccine.
"Boo!" You didn't let me finish.
Take it...to the trash and throw it away.
[ Laughter ] "Yay!"
Trump's obviously not a man of convictions.
He and his allies have cultivated a political movement
that boos a lifesaving vaccine.
It's sickening -- months of relentless lies
and conspiracy theories about vaccines
from their favorite media, politicians,
and pillow salesmen and outlets has led to this.
It's like "Maury," except, instead of an ex-boyfriend
who refuses to accept the results of paternity tests,
they're booing vaccines.
Meanwhile, the rest of us see that? We say...
-What?!
[ Laughter ]
-Not the picture with me and the pillow!
Ohhh!
This has been "A Closer Look."
♪♪
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