'Seriously doubt' Russia coronavirus vaccine was proven safe - Dr. Anthony Fauci

Top U.S. infectious disease official Dr. Anthony Fauci said he doubts that Russia has proven a newly announced COVID-19 vaccine as safe and effective.

"Having a vaccine... and proving that a vaccine is safe and effective are two different things," said Fauci. "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's comments were released as a preview of an exclusive conversation with National Geographic as part of their event, 'Stopping Pandemics,' airing Thursday, August 13 at 1pm ET (1700gmt).

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia had become the first country in the world to grant regulatory approval to a COVID-19 vaccine after less than two months of human testing, a move hailed by Moscow as evidence of its scientific prowess.

The vaccine still has to complete final trials, raising concerns among some experts at the speed of its approval, but the Russian business conglomerate Sistema has said it expects to put it into mass production by the end of the year.