WHO Seeks More Info About Russia Vaccine

World

August 20th, 10:55am

Asharq Al-Awsat

FILE PHOTO: A doctor hold a syringe as part of the start of the seasonal influenza vaccination campaign in Nice, France October 24, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard/File Photo

The World Health Organization’s Europe office said Thursday it has begun discussions with Russia to try to get more information about the coronavirus vaccine that it approved last week before the shot had passed the advanced trials normally required to prove it works. Catherine Smallwood, a senior emergency official at WHO Europe, said “this concern that we have around safety and efficacy is not specifically for the Russia vaccine, it’s for all of the vaccines under development.” She acknowledged WHO was taking an “accelerated approach” to try to speed development of coronavirus vaccines but said “it’s essential we don’t cut corners in safety or efficacy.” Smallwood said WHO has begun “direct discussions” with Russia and that WHO officials have been sharing “the various steps and information that’s going to be required for WHO to take assessments.” The WHO wrote to every country on Tuesday urging them to quickly join its global shared vaccine program -- and spelled out who would get its eventual coronavirus jabs first. The World Health Organization's director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that without vaccinating the planet's highest-risk populations simultaneously, it would be impossible to rebuild the global economy. And he said the most exposed 20 percent of each country's population -- including front-line health workers, adults over 65 and those with pre-existing conditions -- would be targeted in the first wave of vaccinations, once the WHO-led COVAX shared facility can roll out a proven safe and effective vaccine.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2459301/who-seeks-more-info-about-russia-vaccine