Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, believes that a vaccine against the novel coronavirus should not be approved until large-scale trials have shown it to be safe and effective.
If that does happen, he says it will hinder the trials of other vaccines in development.
Scientists and other medical experts have previously expressed concerns about pressure President Donald Trump would put on the Food and Medicine Authority (FDA) to approve a vaccine before the presidential election in November.
Fauci declined to comment but argues that there is a risk of quick approval of a vaccine, regardless of how badly a corona vaccine is needed. According to Fauci, it becomes almost impossible for developers of other vaccines to find subjects if another vaccine is approved prematurely.
Pharmacists Moderna and AstraZeneca have started recruiting tens of thousands of volunteer subjects for possible vaccines in recent weeks. Johnson & Johnson announced last week that it hoped to have 60,000 issues for its phase 3 trials.
Trump caused consternation on Sunday by claiming without evidence that political interests influence the approval process. He accused FDA officials of deliberately delaying the approval of anti-corona drugs to influence the election to Trump’s disadvantage.
Medicines can be accelerated when they “are used to diagnose, prevent or treat serious or life-threatening illnesses when the benefits are known to outweigh the risks,” said Fauci.
According to Fauci, accelerated approval is in order if studies have already shown a drug to be safe and effective, but the FDA has yet to conduct a formal evaluation.
