| There's never been anything like it in the history of vaccine development. Four Covid vaccines are hurtling toward the finish line in the U.S. nearly 9 months after deciphering the genetic code for the coronavirus that causes the disease. Moderna and Pfizer, along with its German partner BioNTech, are leading the pack with double-dose treatments, while a single-shot vaccine from Johnson & Johnson began a late-phase trial last week. "This is beyond unprecedented," says Otto Yang, a viral immunologist at UCLA. "It is crazy fast." Vaccines tend to be safe and effective. Just look at the childhood vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella. But by collapsing clinical trials that normally would take years to conclude, scientists are pushing their limits, taking new risks and raising concerns. President Donald Trump's threat to override minimum requirements in order to get a vaccine to market even faster, ahead of the Nov. 3 election, is upping the angst. "What the public needs to know is how much do we really know," said Merck Chief Executive Kenneth Frazier during an Economic Club of New York webinar on Oct. 1. "And how much do we not know." The biggest unknown, at least initially, may be that doctors won't know how well vaccines work at preventing serious illness rather than easing run of the mill sore throats or muscle aches. People are getting the message: Only 51% of American adults say they're now likely to get a Covid-19 vaccine, down from 72% in May, according to a Pew Research Center poll.--Robert Langreth | 
Post a Comment