Trump contradicted CDC on vaccine timeline and importance of mask-wearing

President Donald Trump claimed Dr Robert Redfield was "confused" when he stated masks may be effective Covid-19 protection and that results from coronavirus vaccination would be visible on the second or third quarter of 2021.

Redfield, the head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), made both claims during a session of the Senate Appropriations Committee Wednesday.

Trump, answering reporters, said: "I think he made a mistake when he said that. It's just incorrect information."

"I might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against Covid than when I take a Covid vaccine, because the immunogenicity may be 70%. And if I don't get an immune response, the vaccine is not going to protect me. This face mask will," the director of the CDC told lawmakers in the Senate.