Dr. Bright: 'Without better planning, 2020 could be the darkest winter in modern history'

WASHINGTON (SBG) – Some damning accusations came from Capitol Hill during a House Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee hearing Thursday. Alleged "whistleblower" Dr. Rick Bright says he was removed from his job and reassigned because he disagreed with President Donald Trump on the treatment of the coronavirus.

He recently lead a federal vaccine development program and says he warned of supply shortages and suggested current leadership hasn't responded adequately.

Bright claims he was removed from his post as retaliation because he cautioned against the broad and potentially dangerous use of chloroquine, a drug the President often touted as a possible treatment.

“Without better planning, 2020 could be the darkest winter in modern history,” said Bright.

The window is closing to address this pandemic because we still do not have a standard centralized coordinated plan to take us through this process."

He says he warned the administration about shortfalls in PPE and also said hopes for a coronavirus vaccine to be ready in 12-18 months would assume that "everything goes perfectly." He also said he believes it will take longer than that to do so.

President Trump said Thursday he doesn't know Bright and has never met him.

"I watched him and he looked like an angry, disgruntled employee who frankly, according to some people, didn’t do a very good job," said Trump.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar claims the well-known lack of equipment was instantly addressed. "Oh, and by the way, whose job was it to actually lead the development of vaccines, Dr. Bright?" Azar asked.

"So this is like somebody who was in a choir and is now trying to say he was a soloist back then."

Dr. Bright claims it was in January that he pushed officials to collect more samples of the virus and build more supplies -- but Secretary Azar says everything Bright complained about was eventually handled.