‘I have never lied to the Senate estimates’

The United States’ top infectious disease official Anthony Fauci says AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine may not be needed in the US.

The vaccine has not yet been approved in the US, though it is in use in many countries including Australia, the United Kingdom and France.

Fauci said the vaccine had good efficacy, but safety concerns needed to be straightened out and it might not be needed for Americans because of supplies of other shots.

“I think that the AstraZeneca vaccine from a standpoint of efficacy is a good vaccine, and if the safety issue gets straightened out in the European Union … the efficacy of that vaccine is really quite good,” he told BBC radio on Tuesday.

“Whether or not we ever use AZ is unclear but it looks right now at this point in time that we will not need it. It’s not a negative indictment of AZ, it is just possible that given the supply that we have from other companies that we may not need to use an AZ vaccine.”

As the United States loosens its COVID-19 restrictions, Fauci also said there was a “really risky situation” when bars and restaurants were reopening in some places where the use of masks was not being enforced.

He said the vaccine rollout would blunt “a real explosion of a surge” but it would not stop a moderate increase in cases.

“This is not a time to prematurely declare victory because we have such a successful rollout,” he said.