Russia's Covid-19 vaccine puts pressure on US President Trump's race?

When Russian President Putin announced that Russia had registered the world's first Covid-19 vaccine, health experts in the US worried that President Trump would feel compelled to compete and rush to announce an American vaccine even before trials were complete.

“I’m sure Trump will be motivated this time to push the FDA to move even faster. If he believes that testing is causing the number of cases in the United States, he may believe that if a vaccine or drug is not tested, it’s OK,” said Margaret Hamburg, a commissioner of the FDA under President Barack Obama.

America is not in a "race to be first" with Russia.

Responding to the news that Russia had approved the “world’s first Covid-19 vaccine,” US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said on August 12 that developing a Covid-19 vaccine is not a race to see who will win.

He stressed that two of the six Covid-19 vaccines the US government has invested in have entered phase 3 clinical trials a few weeks ago, while the Russian vaccine has only just begun this process. Data on the initial trials in Russia has also not been disclosed.

Comparing Operation Warp Speed, the US government's Covid-19 vaccine program, to the Apollo mission to put humans on the Moon, Mr. Azar said that this time the mission will be to produce a safe Covid-19 vaccine by the end of this year.

“There has never been a vaccine in the developed world that has moved from phase 1 to phase 3 as quickly as Moderna’s vaccine. The United States has committed that any vaccine that is released for distribution must be safe, effective, and meet the gold standard of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA),” Mr. Azar affirmed.

In a previous press conference, President Trump also said that his administration had reached an agreement worth more than $1.5 billion with Moderna to produce and distribute 100 million doses of the company's vaccine as soon as it is approved.

The mRNA-1273 vaccine, developed by Moderna in collaboration with the US government, is currently in clinical trials. If it passes the trial, the government could purchase up to 400 million additional doses.

David J. Kramer, a Russian studies scholar at Florida International University and former assistant secretary of state under President George W. Bush, said that in addition to arms control, fighting Covid-19 will be an issue where the US and Russia must cooperate, not a factor for competition.

However, according to CNN, in the US, Moderna is one of the companies that is producing vaccines "recklessly", meaning that the company is already producing the Covid-19 vaccine before it is approved.

The pressure to race for “political victory”

American scientists say the Russian vaccine, approved without the extensive testing that Western countries typically require, may work. But if it doesn’t, the rush could pose dangers not just to Russians but to many others as Mr. Trump tries to catch up quickly.

The search for a Covid-19 vaccine has been under pressure to accelerate as the Trump administration seeks to develop a drug to combat the SARS-CoV-2 virus that has killed more than 167,000 Americans (according to Worldometers as of the afternoon of August 12).

Two pharmaceutical companies have entered phase 3 trials in the US, the final stage of testing before approval if successful. However, scientists have expressed concern that the trials and approval process could be shortened as Mr. Trump seeks a “political victory” before the November 3 election.

The White House has said that data, not politics, will govern the decision to approve a vaccine, although Mr. Trump has repeatedly linked Operation Warp Speed, a program to find and procure vaccines, to the election schedule. He has also said that the U.S. could have a vaccine before Election Day (November 3, 2020), although scientists say it will take until early next year to complete trials.

“We’re doing very well in every aspect, including Corona (Covid-19). But I have to say we’re getting close to the end point. We’re going to have a vaccine and it’s going to be ready (to be distributed). We’re very close to a vaccine. We’re ready to distribute,” Trump said in an interview with a radio station on August 11.

At a press conference later in the day, the President did not comment on Russia's claims, but spoke of "tremendous progress" in a US vaccine and asserted that the US was very close to approving a vaccine.

“Operation Warp Speed ​​is the largest and most advanced operation in the world and in history,” Mr. Trump said.

President Putin may see no need to wait for extensive trials in Russia, where health care regulations are perhaps less stringent than in the US, but this puts Mr Trump in an awkward position.

According to Monica Schoch-Spana, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, with a personal desire for a “political victory,” President Trump may also want a “vaccine victory” similar to what President Putin had in Russia./.