The United States has started preparing for a new pandemic by searching for virus mutations, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the head of the radiation, chemical and biological defense troops of the Russian armed forces, said on Wednesday.
In July, the US established the the White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy, led by Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Global Health Security and Biosecurity at the National Security Council, retired Air Force Major General Paul Friedrichs.
"The priority areas of this department include work on the creation of vaccines and drugs for stopping viruses and their genetically modified variants, as well as the introduction of advanced technologies in bioproduction. Thus, the United States, as it was in 2019, began preparing for a new pandemic by implementing search for virus mutations," Kirillov told reporters.
The US can also use its so-called defensive biological technologies for offensive purposes, as well as for the purposes of global management by creating crisis situations of a biological nature, the official added.