If Russian President Vladimir Putin has found an effective COVID-19 vaccine, then the data showing its safety and effectiveness should be released, the head of GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance.
In an exclusive broad interview with Newsweek International, Dr. Seth Berkley said he had not yet seen any data on effectiveness that showed President Putin had a secure fax.
He said: “We have no public, published information on the effectiveness or safety of this product.
“It may be that there is some data that we do not know, but in general it is very important that faxes go through a well-oiled and recognized process for evaluation and security and eventual registration.
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“My understanding of the media is that she [Russia] now begin an effectiveness test so that it has not been through an effectiveness test and normally a strict regulatory authority would not be able to approve it.
“If there are any effectiveness data we do not know about, we would like to see them.”
GAVI is a public-private global health partnership that aims to increase access to immunization in poor countries, with The Gates Foundation the single largest supporter of the organization, donating $ 4.1 million since its inception in 2000.
President Putin announced last week that a locally developed vaccine for the COVID-19 virus that has killed more than 770,000 people worldwide has received regulatory approval.
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The Russian president claimed that the vaccine had passed all the necessary security checks and that his own daughter had received it.
He said: “After the first injection her temperature was 38 degrees, the next day 37.5, and that was it. After the second injection her temperature went up a bit, then back to normal.”
Putin welcomes the development of the vaccine, which is called Sputnik-V, as a world first.
Dr Berkley’s remarks come after the World Health Organization (WHO) also called on Russia not to cut corners and follow international guidelines for vaccine production.
Russian Public Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said the vaccine was “proven to be very effective and safe”, calling it a major step towards “human victory” over the pandemic.
Developed by the Gamaleya Institute of Moscow, no public data has been released on the safety or immunity of the vaccine, making it difficult for scientists to monitor its effectiveness.
Governments around the world are considering a vaccine as the most effective means of overcoming the virus, with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson describing the search for a vaccine as “the most urgent shared endeavor of our lives”, signing four separate agreements with companies.
In the US, President Trump has called for an “America first” approach to faxing.
Dr Berkley has called on countries to put their own interests together and work together to find a global solution to what he said is a global problem.
You can watch the entire Newsweek interview with Dr. Berkley read.
