Fauci says he will take new Pfizer vaccine if FDA approves it

FILE PHOTO: Anthony Fauci, MD, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, testifies during a U.S. Senate Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Hearing to examine COVID-19, focusing on an update on the federal response at the U.S. Capitol Washington, D.C., U.S., September 23, 2020. Graeme Jennings/Pool via REUTERS

U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said he will take Pfizer Inc's new coronavirus vaccine if the Food and Drug Administration approves it and that he has confidence in the company and the government agency.

Asked on MSNBC if he would take the vaccine, Fauci said: "I'm going to look at the data, but I trust Pfizer. I trust the FDA. These are colleagues of mine for decades, the career scientists. If they look at this data, and they say this data is solid, let's go ahead and approve it, I promise you, I will take the vaccine, and I will recommend that my family take the vaccine."

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)