Fauci on Russia's COVID-19 Vaccine: "I Seriously Doubt That It Is Safe and Effective"

The nation's top infectious disease expert, Anthony Fauci, said on Tuesday that he has serious doubts about Russia's COVID-19 vaccine, claiming that it is ready to be used for the coronavirus disease.

"Having a vaccine and proving that a vaccine is safe and effective are two different things," Fauci was quoted in a The Hill report.

This was after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the country had become the first in the world to have regulatory approval for a COVID-19 vaccine.

The Russian president said that the vaccine went through clinical testing and was proven to give immunity from the coronavirus disease.

However, the Phase 3 trials for Russia's COVID-19 vaccine have been reportedly postponed after it sparks doubts from international health experts about its usefulness.

Fauci, who is also the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and a key member of the White House coronavirus task force, said that he had not seen evidence supporting Putin's claims.

Fauci said he hoped that the Russians have actually, definitively proven that the vaccine is safe and effective. However, he added he seriously doubts that.

Fauci added that Americans need to understand that the process of obtaining vaccine approval requires safety and efficacy.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Many are still in the race of developing a COVID-19 vaccine to fight the deadly disease.

Part of this is Moderna, which is in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health. It launched a Phase 3 trial for a vaccine in July, making the U.S. the first candidate to reach that phase.

Fauci said he is optimistic that the vaccine will be ready by the end of the year.

However, he said that there is never a guarantee that you will get a safe and effective vaccine.

Meanwhile, White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway also commented on Russia's COVID-19 vaccine, saying that the U.S. has superior safety standards.

"What I understand from the Russia announcement is, this is nowhere near where we are. Which is, we have six different vaccine candidates into Phase 3 [trials]," Conway was quoted in a Newsweek report.

Conway said that the Russians do not seem to be there yet.

Conway cited Fauci's concerns about the Chinese and Russian sped-up efforts to release a vaccine.

Mass Vaccination

According to a CNBC report, Russia is preparing to start a mass vaccination program against the coronavirus disease in October.

Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said that clinical trials for the vaccine, developed by the Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute, is already complete.

Moscow has claimed that test results showed an immune response in all subjects with no side-effects or complications.

The World Health Organization said that there are 26 candidate vaccines in clinical trials around the world. This includes the early-stage one from the Gamaleya Institute.

However, WHO has not listed any second or third-phase trials from the Moscow-based vaccine developer.

Murashko said the vaccine is now seeking regulatory approval for the drug. Once approved, doctors and teachers would be the ones first in line to be vaccinated.

Other biotechnology companies such as Moderna, American drugmaker Pfizer, and German biotech firm BioNTech have promising vaccine data.

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