US MAY APPROVE 2 MORE COVID-19 VACCINES FOR EMERGENCY USE SOON - FAUCI

18 JAN 2021

MOSCOW: Two more COVID-19 vaccines, developed by the AstraZeneca/University of Oxford and Johnson & Johnson, may be approved for emergency use in the United States within a "couple of weeks," reported Sputnik news agency, quoting the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci.

"I would imagine within a period of a week or so, or at the most, a couple of weeks, they're going to be getting their data together and showing it to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration).

"Well, obviously they are going to have to get their data and safety monitoring board to look at it to see if it is appropriate to start, you know, essentially putting the package together to get an emergency use authorisation. But we're weeks away, not months away, for sure," Fauci told the NBC broadcaster in an interview late Sunday when asked how close is the US to approve Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines.

In December, the FDA approved the emergency use of vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna. As of now, over 12 million people in the US have received the 1st dose of the Coronavirus vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The AstraZeneca/University of Oxford is approved in the UK, India, Brazil and several other countries, while the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is not yet approved anywhere. -Bernama