U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday he "firmly believes" there'll be a vaccine for COVID-19 by the end of 2020 and pushed for reopening of the country and economy as "people want to go back to work."

"We'll have a vaccine much sooner rather than later," Trump told a Fox News virtual town hall at Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, after returning from a "working weekend" at Camp David.

Asked if another country could "beat us" on creating a vaccine, Trump said it's not like him to say as he just wants a vaccine. "We have to get a vaccine," he said, adding that he "firmly believes" it will be done by the end of 2020.

"I'll take my hat off to them (that create one)."  

The town hall, entitled "America Together: Returning to Work," asked people to submit their questions to the president on social media. 

Asked about the divisive time and bringing America together, Trump said, "I think we're winning very big and then we had a horrible thing happen," and that he was "shocked that during a crisis it would be so partisan."

He said the Democrats and "enemies" are committed to investigating his response to the virus, which he referred to as the "impeachment hoax."

Asked about the controversial drug hydroxychloroquine, Trump said he had three calls in the last three or four days from people who credit it with saving their lives, and he believes the drug is effective in fighting against coronavirus.

The FDA has issued a safety warning against hydroxychloroquine and studies have been inconclusive in proving the drug's effectiveness against COVID-19.

Although he acknowledged some Americans worried about getting sick, Trump repeated in the program that "a lot of people want to go back" and "we have to let 'em come back.” 

"You see demonstrations all over the country – and those are meaningful demonstrations... Now we have to get it open. We have to get it open safely, but we have to get it open as quickly as possible." 

He said, "you're gonna have all those seats" at restaurants like before. He said he wants to sit beside people, and he wants 100,000-plus at Alabama football games.

"Some people" say the virus could come back, he said, but still, "it will pass."

COVID-19 has infected more than 1.1 million in the United States and killed more than 67,000. 

"We're going to lose anywhere from 75,800 to 100,000 people. That's a horrible thing," said Trump, who as recently as Friday said he hoped fewer than 100,000 Americans would die and earlier in the week had talked about 60,000 to 70,000 deaths.

Asked if he should change the tone at the White House COVID-19 daily briefing, he said again that he's done a "great job" in handling the virus, but he was greeted with "hostile" questions.

"I am greeted with a hostile press, the likes of which no president has ever seen," Trump said. "They come at me with questions that are disgraceful.”

"If I was kind to them, I would be walked off the stage," he said, adding that "the media is – they might as well be in the Democrat party."

Speaking also at the town hall event, Vice President Mike Pence, who heads the government's anti-coronavirus effort, said he should have worn a face mask during a visit with patients at the Mayo Clinic last month.

He said he did not believe he posed a risk to others. "I didn't think it was necessary, but I should have worn a mask at the Mayo Clinic," he said.

Pence was photographed during the April visit as the lone person not wearing a face mask alongside patients and healthcare professionals. He previously defended the decision, citing U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines that say a mask primarily serves to prevent wearers from spreading the infection, not from guarding against it.

The decision was slammed by critics, who said it undermined efforts to slow the spread of the virus.

Pence had said he and Trump were frequently tested for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, and was confident he did not pose a risk.

On Sunday, he said he still should have worn the mask required of other patients and visitors at the healthcare facility.

He added that beyond its public health purpose, wearing the mask carried important symbolic weight as well.

"It's really a statement about the American people, the way they have been willing to step forward, practice social distancing and wear masks in settings where they can't do that," he said.

Senate reopens

Trump said there had to be more help for Americans suffering from the economic tailspin brought about by the virus in a possible hint he wants Congress to pass another aid bill.

Congress has already passed an aid package worth 3 trillion U.S. dollars intended to ease the heavy economic toll of the crisis.

The Senate plans to reopen on Monday, while the House remains shuttered. 

"It's not your fault," Trump said with the administration officials standing besides him during the interview at the Lincoln Memorial. "There is more help coming. There has to be."

Democrats have made clear they want to provide a sizable rescue package for state and local governments as part of a broader bill – one that could total over 2 trillion U.S. dollars – while some Republicans criticized the idea as unreasonably expensive.

Congressional Republicans have said their next top legislative priority related to the coronavirus will be steps to protect businesses from being sued when the economy begins to reopen.

The number of new COVID-19 cases has begun to drop or level off, with the death toll standing at more than 67,682 on Saturday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

While about half of U.S. states moved towards reopening, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Saturday pushed back against what he called "premature demands," saying he knew people were struggling without jobs but that more understanding of the new coronavirus was needed.

Cuomo said he needed much more information on what the pandemic was doing in his state, the hardest hit by the disease, before he loosens restrictions.

"Even when you are in uncharted waters, it doesn't mean you proceed blindly," he said. "Use information to determine action – not emotions, not politics, not what people think or feel, but what we know in terms of facts."

(With input from AP, Reuters)