WASHINGTON, Aug 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — America’s top infectious
diseases official has raised concerns over the safety of COVID-19
vaccines being developed by China and Russia as the world scrambles
for answers to a pandemic the WHO warned will be felt for decades.
Six months after the World Health Organization declared a global
emergency, the novel coronavirus has killed at least 679,000 people
and infected at least 17.9 million.
As countries across Western Europe announced new lockdowns and
reported historic economic slumps, the UN health body said the
pandemic was a “once-in-a-century” crisis and its fallout would be
felt for decades.
Several Chinese companies are at the forefront of the race to
develop an immunity to the disease and Russia has set a target date of
September to roll out its own vaccine.
But US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said it was unlikely
his country would use any vaccine developed in either country, where
regulatory systems are far more opaque than they are in the West.
“I do hope that the Chinese and the Russians are actually testing
the vaccine before they are administering the vaccine to anyone,” he
told a US Congressional hearing.
“Claims of having a vaccine ready to distribute before you do
testing, I think, are problematic, at best.”
As part of its own “Operation Warp Speed,” the US government will
pay pharma giants Sanofi and GSK up to $2.1 billion for the
development of a COVID-19 vaccine, the companies said. — NNN-AGENCIES
