A Key To Understanding The Race For A Covid-19 Vaccine
Now is the time to prepare yourself for an incoming onslaught of Covid-19 vaccine news. With eight candidates already in human trials and almost 180 more in the wings, publications and press briefings touting progress will soon arrive wave after wave. In the face of …
What Does Disappearing Immunity To Covid-19 Mean For A Vaccine?
The first results of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine trials were officially published Tuesday and the news was good—patients injected with the mRNA-based vaccine produced antibodies that fight the Covid-19 virus. Just how good is this good news? That depends on whether or not you accept …
Even without a Covid-19 vaccine, there’s reason for hope
A lot of hope has been placed on the possibility of a Covid-19 vaccine by the end of this year. However, overcoming the technical challenges of developing a vaccine — and the safety issues inherent in making one that works for the …
The Risks of Rushing a COVID-19 Vaccine
The excitement and enthusiasm for a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of 2020 is both palpable and understandable. We all hope for a rapid end to the pandemic and an effective vaccine would be a surefire solution. But there are risks that …
More Publication By Press Release, This Time From Sinovac On A Covid Vaccine
Spreading almost as fast as Covid-19 itself are “publications by press release”. The latest comes from Sinovac, the same company that previously withheld comment on animal studies of its candidate Covid vaccine until the supporting data was available for review. Not so this …
Human COVID-19 Vaccine Trials Are Unnecessary, Uninformative, and Unethical
I was recently stunned to learn of the serious consideration being given to deliberately infecting human volunteers with the SARS-CoV-2 virus in order to assess the effectiveness of potential COVID-19 vaccines. My first reaction was that the advocates of such “human challenge studies” had …
Covid In Kids: A Reason To Be Wary Of Covid Vaccines
More than a dozen Covid vaccines are in development, with many of them already being tested in humans and many more to begin human trials soon. But what do we actually know about these potential vaccines and why might we be wary …
Confronting Barriers To Covid-19 Vaccine Acceptance
One of the questions I’m asked most frequently is when we will have a Covid-19 vaccine. To that I say, the question is not when, but if. If we don’t have a vaccine, we don’t yet know how safe and effective it …
It’s Too Early For The US Government To Place Risky, Billion Dollar Bets On Covid Vaccines
As American taxpayers, we are justified in asking why the United States government is giving a billion dollars to a British-Swedish pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca, to develop a very early stage Covid-19 vaccine. Mind you, I am not particularly upset that AstraZeneca is …
What Happens If We Can’t Find A Coronavirus Vaccine That Works?
Last Friday, amidst all the heat, hype, and big bucks that greeted even the most modest advances in Covid-19 vaccine development in the United States, a far more sober assessment came from our friends across the pond: “Why We May Not Get a …