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America’s top infectious disease scientist Anthony Fauci has apologized for hinting that he thought Britain’s drug regulator was quick to approve the coronavirus vaccine.
His comments came a day after Britain became the first country to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for general use, prompting some skepticism among European neighbors and suggestions for politicization.
Fauci, who heads the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the BBC: “I am very confident in what the UK is doing both scientifically and from a regulatory point of view.
“Our process is one that takes longer than it takes in the UK. And that’s just the reality, “he said, adding,” I didn’t mean to hint at any oversights even though it came out that way. “
Fauci had previously described that Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) “ran around the corner from the marathon and joined it on the last mile” and “rushed that approval.”
He contrasted that with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which said it had been careful to avoid “shortcuts” because it did not want to fuel skepticism about vaccines.
“In fact, their counterparts in the European Union criticized them quite harshly and said, you know, ‘That was kind of a hot dog game,'” Fauci had said.
Fauci made his original remarks before his first meeting with Joe Biden, after which the president-elect confirmed that the doctor, who endured a difficult relationship with Donald Trump, would remain as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and He named as chief medical advisor.
June Raine, director of the MHRA, had previously insisted that “no corners had been cut” in vaccine research.
England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam also responded to critics, telling the BBC: “If you are a regulator that is a little further behind, what do you say to justify your position that you are further back? Words like the ones we may have heard ”.
Britain’s MHRA was also praised on Wednesday by Moncef Slaoui, a former pharmaceutical executive turned senior advisor to the US government’s Operation Warp Speed program to develop Covid-19 vaccines and treatments.
He told reporters in a call that the British agency was on par with the FDA as the best regulator in the world and described it as the “scientific engine” of the European Medicines Agency before Britain left that organization after Brexit. .
An FDA advisory panel will hold a public meeting on December 11 to evaluate the same vaccine, and approval could follow soon after.
The EU, for its part, has insisted that the bloc has not been left behind.
German Health Minister Jens Spahn, in a video conference of his EU colleagues, said on Wednesday: “The idea is not to be the first, but to have a safe and efficient vaccine.
“It is a question of experience, obviously, of authorization. But as we have seen in the UK comments, it is also a political problem for the European Union.
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