Despite the public's legitimate concerns about political rhetoric, politics is not influencing the development of a COVID-19 vaccine, several public health experts testified to Congress Wednesday. If a COVID-19 vaccine were to be released before it had been fully and appropriately vetted, the public will know because scientists and researchers will tell them, said Dr. Paul A. Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. McClellan noted that on Tuesday, seven former FDA commissioners published an opinion piece in The Washington Post saying that while the Trump administration has undermined the credibility of the FDA, they continued to have confidence in the integrity and high-quality scientific work of agency staff.