Anthony Fauci, the United States’ top infectious disease official, raised concerns Friday regarding the safety of COVID-19 vaccines under development by China and Russia. …
Anthony Fauci, the United States’ top infectious disease official, raised concerns Friday regarding the safety of COVID-19 vaccines under development by China and Russia. Several Chinese companies are at the forefront of the global vaccine race, while Russia has said it hopes to be the first in the world to produce a vaccine for the public, with a target date of September. But the medicines will likely face heightened scrutiny given that the regulatory systems in both countries are far more opaque than they are in the West. Fauci, who was asked during a Congressional hearing whether the US could make use of Chinese or Russian vaccines if they arrived first, indicated that was unlikely. «I do hope that the Chinese and the Russians are actually testing the vaccine before they are administering the vaccine to anyone,» he said. He added: «Claims of having a vaccine ready to distribute before you do testing, I think, is problematic, at best.
