- Eminent U.S. Scientist Anthony Fauci has apologised for implying Britain’s drug regulators may have rushed the approval for a COVID-19 vaccine
- The U.K. announced on Wednesday that it would be the first western country to roll out a coronavirus vaccine after the Pfizer and BioNTech treatment was authorised for emergency use
- Fauci criticised how quickly the U.K.’s drug regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA), approved the jab
- He’s since walked back the comments, stating he didn’t mean to imply the British have been sloppy in its regulatory approval
Leading U.S. Scientist Anthony Fauci has been forced to apologise for his comments implying Britain’s drug regulators may have rushed the approval process for a COVID-19 vaccine.
On Wednesday, the U.K. became the first western country in the world to announce it was preparing to roll out a coronavirus vaccine after the Pfizer and BioNTech treatment was authorised for emergency use.
In response to the news, Fauci raised doubt about how much time the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) actually spent reviewing the data from Pfizer’s testing.
“They kind of ran around the corner of the marathon and joined it in the last mile. They really rushed through that approval,” Fauci told CBS.
“I love the Brits, they’re great, they’re good scientists, but they just took the data from the Pfizer company and instead of scrutinizing it really, really carefully, they said, ‘OK, let’s approve it, that’s it.’ And they went with it,” he said.
“In fact, they were even rather severely criticized by their European Union counterparts who were saying, you know, ‘That was kind of a hot dog play.’ I didn’t say that, they did,” Anthony added.
But, less than 24 hours after making the comments the U.S. scientific leader has spoken to the BBC to walk back the comments and offer an apology.
“There really has been a misunderstanding. I apologize for that. I do have great faith in the scientific community and regulatory community in the U.K.,” he explained.
“Our process is one that takes more time than it takes in the UK. And that’s just the reality. I did not mean to imply any sloppiness even though it came out that way,” the scientist concluded.
Regardless of the comments, Britain is pushing ahead with its plans to immunise high-risk patients from next week as the country deals with another deadly surge of COVID-19 cases.