Comments by a senior US official and moves by Britain towards the possible fast-tracking of vaccine vaccines show the West now accepts Russia was right to approve a vaccine as early as August, a Russian official said on Monday.
The head of the US Food and Drug Administration has since said he would be willing to bypass the normal approval process to authorise a coronavirus vaccine as long as officials were convinced the benefits outweigh the risks.
“WESTERN WORLD WAS SHOCKED BY RUSSIA’S SUCCESS”
The British government last week set out plans that would allow Britain’s medical regulator to grant temporary authorisation for any coronavirus vaccine before it has received a full licence if it meets safety and quality standards.
The United States and London were now “exactly following the example of Russia,” said Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, which has been heavily involved in Russia’s vaccine programme.
“The Western world was shocked by Russia’s success (in producing a potential vaccine) and had to go through four stages of accepting the inevitable: denial, anger, depression, and ultimately acceptance,” he said in a statement. “Recent statements show that some of our western partners have already passed the stage of depression and it has now been accepted that Russia’s approach is the correct one.”
Russia has now begun Phase III trials of the “Sputnik V” vaccine that will test its efficacy on a bigger group of volunteers. It is also preparing to approve a second vaccine against coronavirus in late September or early October.