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Anthony Fauci, a leading American infectious disease specialist, has apologized for implying that he believes the British drug regulator was in a rush to approve the PfIzer / BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19.
The comments came a day after Britain became the first country to approve the vaccine for widespread use, sparking skepticism among its European neighbors and suspicions of politicizing the issue.
Fauci, who heads the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the BBC: “I have great confidence in what the UK is doing both scientifically and in terms of regulators.”
“Our approach takes longer than in Britain. And that’s just the reality,” he said, adding: “I didn’t want to imply anything about negligence even though it seemed so.
Fauci had said Britain’s Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Authority “shortened the vaccine marathon and re-entered the race when it was now at the finish line.”
Source: Guardian, BBC, Reuters
