Dr. Anthony Fauci Expresses ‘Serious Doubt’ About the Safety of Russian-Made Covid-19 Vaccine

Dr. Anthony Fauci, in an interview with National Geographic, expressed “serious doubt” that a Russian-created coronavirus vaccine is “safe and effective,” even as Russia President Vladimir Putin has boasted about it and approved distribution of it to the public in his country and others.

Fauci, in a conversation that will be released in full on Thursday, was asked a series of questions by ABC News’ Deborah Roberts. In the segment released, Roberts begins by asking Fauci about his thoughts on the Russian made Covid-19 vaccine nicknamed “Sputnik V,” which has reportedly not been subjected to a phase three clinical trial.

“Having a vaccine, Deborah, and proving that a vaccine is safe and effective are two different things,” Fauci warned.

“We [the United States] have a half a dozen vaccines or more vaccines. So if we wanted to take the chance of hurting a lot of people, or giving them something that doesn’t work, we could start doing this, you know, next week if we wanted to,” Fauci stated. “But that’s not the way it works.”

“So I hope, but I haven’t heard any evidence to make me feel that’s the case — I hope that the Russians have actually, definitively proven that the vaccine is safe and effective. I seriously doubt that they’ve done that.”

Fauci finally noted that he hopes people understand that announcements “from the Chinese or from the Russians” on creating a vaccine vary from the U.S. due to the “way of doing things in this country” regarding how America “care about safety.”

Watch above, via National Geographic.