![]() ![]() This would result in a great deal of mortality, a lot of people dying, which is obviously undesirable. One is to let the whole population-or a large number of people-get infected with COVID-19. If you want to resume the normal activities of life-eat at restaurants, go to theaters, all of the other things that you want to do without taking drastic actions-then you need a “population level” of immunity.Īnd there are two ways to achieve this. This interview-taken from three conversations-has been edited for length and clarity.Ī. He provided answers to our questions about COVID-19 vaccine development. ![]() Omer leads a World Health Organization (WHO) group that evaluates the safety of COVID-19 vaccines. With this in mind, we sat down with Saad Omer, MBBS, PhD, MPH, the director of the Yale Institute for Global Health. ![]() The pledge aimed to reassure the public that any vaccine that is approved will have passed all safety and efficacy checks. Nevertheless, the announcement raised concerns about undue political influence over the release of a COVID-19 vaccine, leading the chief executives of nine pharmaceutical companies to publicly pledge to “make the safety and well-being of vaccinated individuals” their “top priority,” while stating that they would only seek approval of a vaccine if a Phase 3 trial establishes that it is both safe and effective. Whether this vaccine would be granted official licensure from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or be released by an emergency use authorization (EUA)-a tool by which the FDA can authorize use of medical products, including vaccines, that have not completed clinical trials-is unclear. This fear was stoked in early September, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told state officials across the country to prepare for the distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine by November 1, just days before the presidential election. What’s more, according to the report, when asked about the pace of the vaccine approval process, 78% say their primary concern "is that it will move too fast, without fully establishing safety and effectiveness.” According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, the number of Americans who planned to get a COVID-19 vaccine has fallen from 72% in May to just 51% in September. That leaves many Americans concerned about how safe a COVID-19 vaccine will be. Yet, because of the urgency created by this global pandemic-and the serious illness and death rates associated with COVID-19-preclinical and clinical trials to test the efficacy and safety of COVID-19 vaccine candidates are happening at a rapid, almost frenetic, pace. (In fact, the fastest vaccine ever developed-a mumps vaccine-still took four years.) In March, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a consensus among health care providers and public health officials that a vaccine that provided complete immunity to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, would effectively end the pandemic.Īt the time, experts suggested that the development of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine could be accomplished in 12 to 18 months, even though vaccine development typically takes about 10 years. Because information about COVID-19 changes rapidly, we encourage you to visit the websites of the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), and your state and local government for the latest information. Note: Information in this article was accurate at the time of original publication.
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