He also continued his belated encouragement of Americans to wear masks when social distancing is not possible.
"Whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact. I'm getting used to the mask," he said, pulling one out from his pocket, after months of suggesting that mask-wearing was a political statement against him.
Little more than three months out from election day, Trump is hoping that the podium spotlight will give him an edge against Democratic rival Joe Biden.
He appeared at the White House solo, without the medical experts or government supply experts he previously relied on to explain his government's response to the public health emergency.
"The vaccines are coming, and they're coming a lot sooner than anybody thought possible," Trump promised anew.
As early as next week, the first possible US vaccine is set to begin final-stage testing in a study of 30,000 people to see if it really is safe and effective.
A few other vaccines have begun smaller late-stage studies in other countries, and in the US a series of huge studies are planned to start each month through the northern in hopes of, eventually, having several vaccines to use. Already, people can start signing up to volunteer for the different studies.
Health authorities warn there's no guarantee - it's not unusual for vaccines to fail during this critical testing step. But vaccine makers and health officials are hopeful that at least one vaccine could prove to work by year's end.
Companies already are taking the unusual step of brewing hundreds of millions of doses so that mass vaccinations could begin if the Food and Drug Administration signs off.
Trump also acknowledged bipartisan criticism of delays processing testing results, saying his Administration was working on the problem.
"We'll be able to get those numbers down," Trump said, saying his Administration was working to improve the availability of rapid, point-of-care tests like those used to protect him at the White House.
Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, told NPR that he was glad Trump has begun to promote mask-wearing.
- AP
