Russia offered to help US with coronavirus vaccine, but US refused, Russian officials told CNN Thursday.
Russian officials told the network they were proposing “unusual cooperation” with US Operation Warp Speed, the initiative to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. But Russian officials said the “US is not currently open” for its assistance.
“There is a general feeling of mistrust in Russia on the American side and we believe that technologies – including vaccines, tests and treatments – will not be adopted in the US because of that mistrust,” a senior Russian official told CNN.
U.S. officials told CNN that Russia’s vaccine is not considered well-developed, with one U.S. public health official saying: “There is no way in hell the US is trying this (Russian vaccine) on monkeys, let alone stand people. “
The report comes after Russia announced on Tuesday that it had produced a COVID-19 vaccine and Russian president Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich PutinRussia says that vaccine for coronavirus will be ready for doctors in two weeks. Democrats raise warnings over Russian election threatens Fauci: ‘I seriously doubt’ Russia’s coronavirus vaccine is safe and effective MAY said his daughter took it.
Russian officials told CNN that the country remains ready to provide information about the vaccine and allow U.S. pharmaceutical companies to develop it. Some U.S. companies are interested in the vaccine, but their names have not been released, according to the news source.
Russian officials said the US “should seriously consider adopting” the vaccine named Sputnik V.
“If our vaccine proves to be one of the most effective, questions will be asked why the US did not investigate this option in more depth, why did the policy get a way to access a vaccine,” one senior Russian official told the network .
Experts have expressed doubts about the effectiveness of Russia’s vaccine, as the country did not release its test data and made the vaccine available before completing the third phase of testing, which was scheduled to begin on Wednesday.
Russia still reports at least 20 countries in Latin America, the Middle East and Asia have said they are interested in the vaccine.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Thursday the president was briefed on the fax, but said U.S. faxes go through “rigorous” testing.
A senior U.S. government official and adviser told CNN that the U.S. has no examples of the Russian vaccine.
“They now have enough Russia in Russia that they could do clinical trials, but they do not appear to have done so on a large enough scale,” the adviser said. “There have been no tests of this vaccine. They have done too little work for people to decide if it works on a larger scale. We are not talking enough safety data at all.”
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