There will be a successful vaccine, but we must not rush it
When parents ask me about vaccinations for their children, this is what I say: “Vaccines are some of the most carefully tested medications I offer. They go through the most extensive testing process of any medication. Because they are going to be offered to so many people, we make sure they’re safe. That’s why I recommend them as strongly as I do.”
It often works, allaying fears and providing confidence in the safety of this life-saving medical treatment.
What if I’m not able to say that about the SARSCoV-2 vaccine? What if it isn’t rigorously tested before it’s offered to the public? What if it’s released prior to the election for political reasons? The fragile confidence our citizens still have in the national vaccine program will be lost. The costs of this pandemic have been great; this one would be overwhelming.
We only have one chance to get this right. No political pressure on the CDC, the organization that implements vaccine deployment, or the FDA, the organization that regulates and approves vaccines, should result in a coronavirus vaccine being released prior to completion of standard testing protocols. The FDA has clearly laid out guidelines for effectiveness and safety that a vaccine must meet prior to consideration for approval. These cannot be hedged or shifted or changed by emergency authorization unless the process is fully transparent and supported by vaccine experts. I’m all for early preparation, as the CDC has advised, but not premature authorization. We cannot allow any falsehood to shade our claims that vaccines are safe, as this is one of the primary concerns expressed by those who choose not to vaccinate.
There will be a successful vaccine, there is little question of that. But only if the government and scientific community is transparent in its process of development is there the potential to restore some of the confidence that has been lost in vaccine safety. We have an opportunity in real time to witness the process of vaccine development. The removal of paywalls from scientific publications has gone a long way to increasing transparency about this process. But we have a long way to go, with a recent poll showing a third of Americans planning not to get the coronavirus vaccine.
All of this is occurring on the backdrop of potential changes to vaccine exemptions in Connecticut. Legislation removing religious exemptions to vaccination cleared the Public Health Committee in February of this year, enjoys bipartisan support and has been discussed as a possibility to be brought up during a special session as yet to be convened this fall. This follows in the wake of similar legislation in New York and many other states. If you agree that the exemptions to vaccines for children whose parents wish for them to attend school should be limited only to medical reasons, you can contact your state legislators today to let them know you support HB 5044.
While we await further news of coronavirus vaccines clearing research hurdles and approval snags, read as much as you can about the vaccine development process.
When you are talking, writing, posting or Zooming about vaccine development, use clear and correct language to describe the process of vaccine development.
When you are confronted by vaccine misinformation, in casual conversation, on social media, or in the media, seize the opportunity to be a vaccine educator.
Let your local, state and federal lawmakers know what you think is important regarding vaccinations: that they be adequately tested according to standard vaccine protocol prior to deployment and and deployed equitably when they are available. We must preserve our trust in the process, or we will lose countless lives to vaccine-preventable illness.
Lots of things can be rushed. Vaccines aren’t one of them.
And by the way, get your flu shot.