The World Health Organization insisted Friday it would never endorse a vaccine that has not proven safe and effective, amid concerns over the rush to develop a jab for COVID-19, The Japan Times reported.
Across the globe, governments are hoping to deploy a vaccine as soon as possible against the virus, which has infected well over 26 million people, killed hundreds of thousands, upended millions of lives and wreaked havoc on the global economy.
Under normal procedures, test administrators must wait for months or years to verify that vaccine candidates are safe and efficacious.
But as the pandemic continues to take a devastating toll, there has been massive pressure to roll out a vaccine quickly, sparking concerns that testing standards could be lowered.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insisted that was not the case.
“WHO will not endorse a vaccine that is not effective and safe,” he told a virtual briefing.
He also took issue with the so-called anti-vax movement that has been stoking fears about the vaccines in development.
They might be able to “build narratives to fight against vaccines, but the track record of vaccines tells its own story,” he said.
