According to the FDA and the manufacturers, there were. And I have read accounts from people who participated in them, including those who were dropped from the trials so that their unfavorable data would not be included.
You may be thinking of the fact that they skipped some key steps along the way, like phase 2 trials that supposedly ran concurrently with phase 3.
"the drugs that were shipped were not the same ones in the trials"
Add to that, the drugs that were given FDA approval (not just EUA) were never available to the public.
I was under the impression that there were never trials done before the EUA.
According to the FDA and the manufacturers, there were. And I have read accounts from people who participated in them, including those who were dropped from the trials so that their unfavorable data would not be included.
You may be thinking of the fact that they skipped some key steps along the way, like phase 2 trials that supposedly ran concurrently with phase 3.
https://www.fda.gov/media/146219/download
Moderna
https://www.fda.gov/media/144434/download?os=..&ref=app
Here is Pfizer's application for EUA, with results of trials.
https://www.fda.gov/media/144246/download