Sylvie Claire / November 15, 2020

In the vaccine race, the United States is well placed. The administration promises to distribute millions of doses from next month. The "Mr. American vaccine" is also Belgian-Moroccan. His name is Moncef Slaoui and has a doctorate in immunology from the Free University of Brussels.

He is neither American by origin nor close to the White House, but he is well known in the scientific and medical world. Last spring, Moncef Slaoui received a phone call from an expert who challenged him. “Do you think getting a vaccine is possible?” He asks her.

"We started talking over the phone about the strategy to adopt. At the end of the call, he said 'I'm sorry but I think the White House will contact you.' He knew very well that I did not 'was not aligned with the current administration. A week or two later, the White House contacted me. I agreed to take on this role on a voluntary basis not for political reasons but strictly for humanitarian reasons, "he explains. -he.

A vaccine before the end of 2020

This 60-year-old immunologist is Belgian-Moroccan. Born in Agadir, he studied at ULB and became a figure in the GSK pharmaceutical group. "I spent 26 or 27 years in Belgium. I am Belgian by naturalization. For me, Belgium is my youth and my experience", he blows.

Moncef Slaoui arrived in the United States in 2003. He has already contributed to the development of numerous vaccines against childhood gastroenteritis or cancer of the cervix. He now promises a vaccine against the coronavirus epidemic before the end of the year. "We will be able to deliver several million doses of vaccines before the end of 2020," he assured at a press conference.

A promise made under the approving gaze of Donald Trump. The current president will leave the White House next January but Moncef Slaoui will continue his mission with the administration of Joe Biden.