FDA Chief: COVID vaccine must be at least 50% effective to be approved

July 30, 2020 Shanon Peckham US 0

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn gestures as he speaks during a roundtable discussion at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Don Soffer Clinical Research Center, Monday, July 27, 2020, in Miami. AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

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UPDATED 11:45 AM PT — Thursday, July 30, 2020

FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn recently announced he will approve a vaccine for COVID-19 if it’s at least 50% effective. On Thursday, Hahn confirmed the U.S. government has several vaccine candidates that have entered the final stages of clinical trials.

However, he has said he will not approve a vaccine unless it’s proven safe.

“We all want a vaccine tomorrow, that’s unrealistic,” added Hahn. “We all want a vaccine that’s 100% effective: again, unrealistic.”

According to the commissioner, even a highly efficient vaccine will only be preventative. He went on to say it won’t be magical cure for all medical conditions associated with COVID-19.

“What we want to see is either a reduction in the severity of the disease, very simply from a disease that could be lethal to a disease that’s like the common cold,…or nonacquisition of the disease to begin with,” he explained.

This comes as Russia is preparing to register its Gamaleya vaccine on August 12 and release it to the public on August 15th.