‘The point is to have a vaccine that is safe,’ not be first: US health secretary
Azar said that transparent data is needed, and that this data has to be from phase three trials that shows that a vaccine is safe and effective
US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar reacted to the announcement from Russia that it has approved a "world first" Covid-19 vaccine.
"The point is not to be first with the vaccine," Azar said on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Tuesday, reports the CNN.
"The point is to have a vaccine that is safe and effective for the American people and the people of the world."
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Azar said that transparent data is needed, and that this data has to be from phase three trials that shows that a vaccine is safe and effective.
"That's what President Trump is leading with the historic Operation Warp Speed initiative, with six vaccines in development," Azar said.
He said they believe they are on track to having tens of millions of doses of FDA gold-standard vaccine by December, and hundreds of millions of doses going into 2021.
When asked how he stands by the timeline of December, Azar said that two of the six vaccines are in phase three clinical trials to prove safety and efficacy, and it will depend on the speed at which the clinical trials enroll, people are vaccinated and then exposed to the virus.
"So, we believe, Dr Fauci believes, that it is very credible that we will have – we have multiple that will be delivering results, and we could have FDA-authorized or approved vaccines by December," Azar said.
