Biden hails progress on COVID-19 vaccine, White House seeks credit

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden leaves after a church service in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., November 8, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

WILMINGTON, Del./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Joe Biden hailed Pfizer Inc's progress toward a COVID-19 vaccine on Monday but urged Americans to wear masks because it may not be widely available for many months, as President Donald Trump's administration tried to claim credit.

Pfizer said its experimental COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90% effective https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-vaccines-pfizer/great-day-for-humanity-pfizer-says-covid-19-vaccine-over-90-effective-idUSKBN27P1CT as it disclosed the first successful interim data from a large-scale clinical test. That was major progress in the quest for a vaccine to combat a pandemic that has killed more than 237,000 Americans, thrown millions more out of work and contributed to Trump's defeat in last Tuesday's election.