Fauci: Pfizer vaccine approved by UK too fast, not as ‘careful’ as FDA

• Dr Anthony Fauci said on Wednesday the UK had approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine too quickly.
• The UK on Wednesday approved the vaccine from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, becoming the first Western country to allow an injection of COVID-19.
• The United States Food and Drug Administration is still analyzing the test results and will make a decision on the vaccine by December 10 at the earliest.
• “The UK didn’t do it as carefully and they got a few days early,” Fauci told Fox News Thursday.
• “If you go fast and do it superficially, people won’t want to get the vaccine,” he added.
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Dr Anthony Fauci, the leading infectious disease expert in the United States, said British regulators were too quick to approve the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech.

The UK on Wednesday became the first Western country to authorize a COVID-19 vaccine, and vaccinations will begin next week. EU politicians immediately criticized the move, calling it “rushed” and “problematic”.

On Thursday, Fauci joined the chorus of critics. He told Fox News on Thursday that British regulators did not review Pfizer trial data as “carefully” as the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and warned that early approvals could reduce public confidence in the shooting.

The United States has yet to approve a COVID-19 vaccine, and the FDA will decide on Pfizer’s vaccine by December 10 at the earliest.

Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said: “The UK has not done it so carefully and they have been a few days early.”

“If you go fast and do it superficially, people won’t want to get the vaccine,” he said, adding that the United States will be there “very soon”.

The FDA has convened a meeting of an independent expert panel to evaluate the Pfizer vaccine, which studies show is 95% effective, for December 10.

Fauci, a world-renowned infectious disease expert, praised the FDA for its extensive research into vaccine trial data.

“We have the gold standard of a regulatory approach with the FDA,” he said. “The way the FDA is, our FDA is doing it, is the right way.”

“We are really looking at the data very carefully to assure the American public that this is a safe and effective vaccine,” Fauci said.

“I think if we did less, we would add to the already existing reluctance on the part of many people to take the vaccine because they are concerned about safety or because they fear we have gone too fast,” did he declare.

In November, Fauci said that a COVID-19 vaccine could be available to all Americans as early as April.

Unanswered questions about the Pfizer vaccine remain, including its long-term safety.