WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States’ top infectious
disease official said Thursday that two coronavirus vaccines being tested
were “solid,” and that the speed at which they were developed has not
compromised safety or integrity.
Anthony Fauci spoke at a rare briefing from the White House virus task
force to reassure some public concerns about the two vaccines — one from
Pfizer/BioNTech and the other by Moderna — after both companies announced successful trials.
“The process of the speed did not compromise at all safety nor did it
compromise scientific integrity. It was a reflection of the extraordinary
scientific advances in these types of vaccines which allowed us to do things
in months that actually took years before,” he said.
And he sought to address fears that the vaccine announcements may have been politically driven.
“It was actually an independent body of people who have no allegiance to
anyone — not to the administration, not to me, not to the companies — that
looked at the data and deemed it to be sound,” he said.
Next the data will be carefully examined by the Food and Drug
Administration, he said. BioNTech has said it will apply to the FDA for
emergency use authorization by Friday.
“So we need to put to rest any concept that this was rushed in an
inappropriate way. This is really solid,” Fauci continued.
The BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna shots have taken the lead in the global
chase for a vaccine, after large-scale trial data this month showed that
their jabs were around 95 percent effective against Covid-19.
The twin breakthroughs have lifted hopes for an end to a pandemic that has
infected more than 56 million people and caused more than 1.3 million deaths worldwide since the virus first emerged in China late last year.
Meanwhile, in GENEVA, the World Health Organization advises against using the anti-viral drug remdesivir to treat Covid-19 patients no matter how severe their illness as it has “no important effect” on survival chances.
A WHO Guideline Development Group (GDG) of international
experts said there was “no evidence based on currently available data that it does improve patient-important outcomes”.
The United States, the European Union and other countries have granted
temporary approval for the use of remdesivir after initial research showed it may shorten recovery time in some coronavirus patients.
President Donald Trump was treated with remdesivir among other medicines after he tested positive for Covid-19 in October.
Friday’s WHO recommendation was based on four international randomised trials among more than 7,000 patients hospitalised with the virus.
Publishing updated treatment guidance in the BMJ medical journal, the panel acknowledged that their recommendation does not mean that remdesivir has no benefit for patients.
But based on the latest figures, costs and delivery methods, it advised
“against administering remdesivir in addition to usual care for the treatment of patients hospitalised with Covid-19, regardless of disease severity”.
Manufacturer Gilead said last month that the drug had boosted 2020 third
quarter sales by almost $900 million.
Initially developed as a treatment for the Ebola virus, remdesivir was
found in one study published in May to reduce the length of hospital stays
for Covid-19 sufferers from 15 to 11 days on average.
A subsequent WHO pre-print however found the drug “appeared to have little or no effect” on mortality or length of hospitalisation among more than 11,000 hospitalised patients across 30 countries. — NNN-AGENCIES
