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Anthony Fauci, the US government’s top infectious disease specialist, criticized the UK drug regulator, saying it was quick to phase out the Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech. The UK watchdog, called the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, said on Wednesday it had approved the Pfizer vaccine. That means the injection will likely be used in Britain before the United States and the European Union. “They are great, they are good scientists,” Dr. Fauci said in an interview with CBS News, according to a transcript. “But they just took the data from the Pfizer company and instead of analyzing it very carefully, they said, ‘Okay, let’s approve it. That’s.'”
The comments, which he later toned down in a separate appearance, come as Britain’s business minister Alok Sharma indicated that the UK would receive an initial batch of 800,000 vaccines but was expecting millions.
“We started initially with 800,000 and then let’s see where we end up by the end of the year in terms of the numbers we acquire. That will depend on the manufacturing, “Sharma said on Sky News.
“I hope we have a few million by the end of this year but of course what we also always said is that the vast majority of this vaccination program will take place in the new year,” he said.
The UK’s swift approval has sparked an international debate with some members of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s ruling Conservative Party giving credit to Brexit, while other officials said exit from the European Union played no role.
UK education secretary Gavin Williamson said Thursday that the expedited process did not surprise him because the UK is a “much better country”. “We have the best people in this country and obviously we have the best medical regulator, much better than the French, much better than the Belgians, much better than the Americans,” he said on a radio. interview. The US Food and Drug Administration has been criticized by US President Donald Trump because Covid vaccines were not approved before the elections in which he was defeated by President-elect Joe Biden.
FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn and other health officials have said that a careful and transparent approval process is key to ensuring the public’s confidence in the vaccine that will be required for a successful immunization campaign.
The UK “came around the corner of the marathon and joined it on the last mile,” Dr Fauci told CBS. “They really rushed to approve that approval.” Later, Fauci eased his criticism. “Our process is one that takes longer than it takes in the UK,” Dr Fauci told the BBC, according to a Washington Post report. “That is just the reality. I didn’t mean to imply any oversights even though it came out that way. ”
The UK Department of Health and Welfare tweeted a clip late Thursday in which MHRA Executive Director June Raine defended the regulator’s methods, saying that a “continuous review” process had allowed it to act. quickly to approve the vaccine. “Continuous review can be used to complete the evaluation of a promising drug or vaccine in a situation where time is of the essence, in the shortest possible time,” he said. “But, and this is a very important point, that does not mean that the corners have been cut. None at all. “- Bloomberg / Reuters
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