On Sunday, President Donald Trump said, “We are removing unnecessary barriers and delays, not by cutting corners, but by marshaling the full power of the federal government,” as he announced a new breakthrough treatment for coronavirus.

In a press briefing, Trump claimed that the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had finally approved and authorized the use of convalescent plasma as an emergency treatment for coronavirus. Trump described it as a “powerful therapy,” which is able to “transfuse” antibodies from recovered COVID-19 patients to those who are struggling to heal from the infection. The President explained that, based on the data, the FDA was able to determine that the use of convalescent plasma is “safe” and “effective.”

In addition, the President also promised that he would make the treatment more available for Americans and encouraged recovered COVID-19 patients to donate their blood. He boasted that the institution was able to develop a treatment in a matter of months, which would take scientists 12 years to accomplish.

The President also thanked FDA administrator, Dr. Steven Hahn, for his help to speed up the approval of the treatment. During the briefing, the administrator claimed that the convalescent plasma treatment started in the mayo Clinic last April and that 70,000 Americans have undergone the treatment.

A day before, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany also shared a social media post about the President’s announcement on a new “breakthrough treatment”. The announcement follows after several admin officials expressed their concerns that the delays in the FDA’’s approval is largely politicized.

In an interview with ABC’s “This Week,” White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, claimed that they have looked into the issue and had identified the people who were behind the delays for the treatment’s approval. Meadows continued that the President is dedicated to “cutting the red tape” and that he had put pressure on the FDA, especially since thousands of Americans are suffering from the virus.

In a social media post, Trump also expressed his concern that someone might be preventing the country from getting the much-needed vaccine and therapeutics. He added that the necessary medication would come before the election, as a way to push the President out of the White House.

The use of convalescent plasma is nothing new and had been used for a century to treat flu and measles before vaccines were available.

However, Former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb dismissed the allegations that there was a deliberate slowdown of the treatment for convalescent plasma. In an interview, CBS’s “Face the Nation,” he claimed that while the convalescent plasma is beneficial, the delays were nothing political.