Scepticism at speed of UK approval for vaccine

THE international community has raised eyebrows over how quickly the UK approved a Covid-19 vaccine, with America’s top infectious disease expert questioning the level of scrutiny.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, claimed American regulators “would do a more thorough job” of assessing the vaccine developed by Pfizer/biontech.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) offered a toned down response to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) decision, simply stating the approval had been “acknowledged”.

The comments came as the coronavirus death toll in the UK passed the 60,000 mark, jumping to 60,113 yesterday.

Dr Fauci told CBS News that Britain “kind of ran around the corner of the marathon and joined it in the last mile”.

He added: “They really rushed through that approval.

“The FDA, the United States of America Food and Drug Administration, is the gold standard of regulation.

“They are doing it in a careful way, appropriately.”

However, he appeared to back-pedal from his remarks later.

In an interview with BBC News Dr Fauci said he did not mean to “imply any sloppiness”, adding: “I do have great faith in both the scientific community and the regulatory community at the UK.”

In response to the comments, the MHRA said in a statement: “We have rigorously assessed the data in the shortest time possible, without compromising the thoroughness of our review.”