But officials told CNN that the “US is not currently open” to Russian medical advances.
“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,” one senior Russian official told CNN.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Thursday that President Donald Trump has been informed about the new Russian vaccine. She said U.S. faxes continue with “rigorous” Phase 3 testing and high standards.
Other U.S. officials told CNN that the Russian vaccine was so half-baked in the United States that it did not even have a serious interest in the U.S. before the launch. “There’s no way in hell the US is trying this (Russian vaccine) on monkeys, let alone humans,” said one U.S. government public health official.
The race to find an effective vaccine – more than 20 are in trials around the world – has global implications, not only for the health of billions of people, but potential billions in revenue for the successful developer and manufacturer.
Russia says US companies are interested
Russian officials tell CNN that Russia is open to sharing information about the vaccine and that US pharmaceutical companies could produce the Russian vaccine on American soil.
CNN previously reported that Russia says some U.S. pharmaceutical companies are interested in learning about the Russian vaccine, although the names of the companies have not been disclosed.
Following the rebellion from the United States, Russian sources say Washington should “take the vaccine seriously”, and told CNN that the newly approved Russian coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V, could save American lives.
“If our vaccine proves to be one of the most effective, questions will be asked as to why the US has not explored this option in more depth, why the policy has been given a way to access a vaccine,” one senior Russian official told CNN.
CNN contacted the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and Operation Warp Speed for comment.
Russia’s sovereign wealth fund has said in a news conference on Tuesday that at least 20 countries in Latin America, the Middle East and Asia have expressed interest in the vaccine. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he had so much confidence in the vaccine that he would take it when it arrived in his country, and Mexico’s foreign minister said on Thursday morning that Mexico was in “talks” with Russia over the fax.
No test data released
Developed by the Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute, the vaccine was approved by the Russian government before beginning important Phase 3 trials in which it would be administered to thousands of people. Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) announced earlier this week that Phase 3 investigations of the fax would begin this past Wednesday in Russia.
Russia has not released any scientific data on its tests and CNN is unable to verify the apparent safety or effectiveness of the vaccine.
A senior U.S. official and a U.S. government adviser told CNN that there were no designated samples of the newly announced Russia Covid-19 vaccine in the possession of the U.S. government.
“They now have enough disease in Russia that they could do clinical trials, but they do not appear to have done so on a large enough scale,” said the government adviser who spoke to CNN about the condition that no name be used. “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.”
Russia enacted a law in April, eliminating the requirement for key Phase 3 trials to be conducted before approval. This has allowed researchers to track the process of developing vaccines.
“There’s all this discussion about authorization for emergency use – in the event of a pandemic, there are a number of points where you can make a judgment to say that the potential benefits of this vaccine outweigh the risks, “So we’ll give the emergency use authorization to get it approved soon. That’s basically what Russia did. It’s the surprise of October that we’re all scared of,” said the senior US official.
“But in the end, the risks are far too great. The blowback in this country would be terrible,” the senior U.S. official added.
Russia’s vaccine against coronavirus will be phased out to people at high risk before a mass vaccination of Russians begins in October.
A former senior official of the US administration called the Russian vaccine “a joke”, adding that Russia has not completed the three phases of testing, and therefore no one – not the World Health Organization but the US – takes it too seriously. The source went on to say that China is “much closer to winning the vaccine.”
U.S. government officials and government advisers told CNN that they believe China is very serious and responsible with its own tests. “China wants to participate a lot in the world of normal reaction and regulation and they are trying to do that,” one official said.
U.S. sources note that they believe the only reason Russia is doing this is for taxation – mostly, in the hopes of exchanging it for strategic assets. Putin, like Trump, is under significant pressure to demonstrate formidable efforts to defeat the virus.
“No one will dare to question him (Putin), and Russian standards of effectiveness do not match those of the US,” said one former official.
This story was reported and written by Matthew Chance and Zahra Ullah in Moscow, and Vivian Salama in Washington DC.
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